If you would please open your Bibles to First Corinthians, chapter 10. If you would remain standing with me for the reading of God's word. First Corinthians, chapter 10. This morning, we pick up where we left off last week. We'll start in verse 23 and we'll read all the way through the first verse of chapter 11. Hear the word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul. 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 market without raising any question on the grounds of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner. And you're just supposed 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 a sacrifice, then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of the 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. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for 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. Let us pray. And Father, we come to you now to hear from your Word. And Father, we know that to fully understand this and to have it applied upon our hearts, we need you to do that work for the Spirit. We ask that you would send the Holy Spirit to do that very thing and to change us, to mold us into the image of the Lord Jesus. We ask that you would cause our hearts to change and that our actions to follow suit. And that we would care about the things in which you care for. And that we would put our own desires and the things that we desire secondary to what you want. To the care and the need of others. And Father, we ask that our outlook in life would be one that looks to do things that proclaim the gospel, that point people towards you, not to offend them so that they may come to salvation. We ask that you would use us in this as we hear from you today. And Father, we thank you for the work of the Lord Jesus and all that is made possible through that for us. And we pray all this in his name. Amen. You may be seated. Well, in in chapter eight of this letter, we started looking at Paul's answer to the Corinthians question about food offered up to idols and if they are allowed to eat it or if they should not eat it. Last week, we saw really the main point of his answer is to flee from idolatry. Don't go and eat in the temple. You can't participate in the work of Jesus. You can't participate in the fellowship meal, the communion, the Lord's Supper that we participate in, and also participate in a similar like meal in another religion. That is actually worshipping idols. That is worshipping these demons that are masquerading around as a god. Paul says, I know that they're not gods, but they are masquerading around. And when you do that, you are showing your allegiance to both Christ and the idol. You can't do that. Our God is a jealous God. We saw in Isaiah chapter 42, he will allow he will allow worship to no other because he is the creator. And so Paul's given this long answer through multiple chapters. He gets to the main, I think the main part of his answer last week, and then knowing that they're going to have more questions about what do you do with food that's not in a celebration meal? What do you do with the food that's sold in the markets? No doubt Paul knows that after reading this last part of his letter, the Corinthians are going to be nervous about the food that they have been eating in the market. Is it wrong too? I think many of us, if we look back in our own lives, we have been nervous about meals also. Maybe you've been nervous about something that you were served to eat, maybe because you didn't like the particular thing that was served or you were on a mission trip and someone set some food down in front of you that you did not recognize. And it's not something that you would even be able to buy here in this country. Those can be very uncomfortable situations as you don't want to offend the host and you really don't want to eat the food either. You're torn. I know we've all been there. They're not fun situations to be in. We generally make it through with no problems. Most often we eat a little bit of it is not to offend the people and we make it through the meal in that way. But in today's text or something. There's something a lot more at stake in this this mill, I think, at least in the Corinthians minds. I've been eating this this food that's been in the market that has been offered to idols. Have I been participating in idol worship? That's a far more uncomfortable situation than just looking at your food and going, I just really don't know what that is and don't want to eat it. And so there's no doubt in my mind as I read through this. And Paul seems to know that they're sweating a little bit about what do we do about this extra food that's sold? Are we allowed to eat it? And so he's going to address that. He says, flee from idolatry last week. Don't be a part of those fellowship meals. And now we're going to see this week that we are to do everything in the glory to God. And he's going to say that it's OK. It's OK to eat meat that's been offered to idols that has been sold in the market. It's about the context of what's happening. Are you in the context of worship or are you just in the context of eating what God has provided? But he's really using that this situation to teach a much bigger, much bigger concept. That concept can apply in our own culture, too. Where we may not have to worry about going to the H-E-B and wondering if the ground beef that we bought was was sacrificed. The concepts behind what's going on here do apply. And so the main the main concept that Paul is working towards is that we should do all things to the glory of God. And he's going to build up to this. He's going to do this in three points. The first thing that he's going to do is help them to see that not all lawful things are good and helpful. There are things that are not sinful. They're good for us to do, but they're not necessarily good or helpful for us to do as Christians. And then he's going to take that concept and apply it to this food offered to idols and eaten in a home. And then lastly, he's going to get to the main point. The result is to choose things that brings glory to God. And so he's going to use these three things, he's going to say that not everything that is lawful or unsinful is good to do. He's going to apply that for us and then bring us to the main point that we need to be making decisions that bring glory to God. So let's look at his argument today in this text. We pick up in verse 23. He says 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. We've seen this phrasing before all the way back in chapter eight. It seems to be something that they've written in defense of their actions. They say, Paul, it's a lawful thing for us to do. What's the problem here? So Paul's answering again. Just because it's lawful doesn't mean that it's helpful. And he's going to specifically apply this to food offered up to idols, but then eaten in a home. So what does he mean by these two things, being helpful and building up? If we look all the way down, verse 24, we see that it means exercising all of our freedoms is not always helpful in seeking the good of our neighbor. Sometimes there are things that are perfectly OK for Christians to do. They're not sinful per se or at all. But when we do them, we actually are not helping out a brother. We're not helping out a neighbor. We're not helping out an unbeliever. The implication here is that the things that we do in life aren't just neutral. They're not just neutral, but there actually can be beneficial or detrimental to a neighbor. So you see, we should walk through our lives and all the decisions that we make seeking the good of our neighbor. This means living a selfless life. Now, it would be very easy at this point to say, go forth and do good. But we can't go forth and do good on our own, can we? The only way that we can go forth and do good is because we have been changed people. We are new creatures in the Lord Jesus. The old is gone. Our sinful nature is gone. And we now have the power of the Holy Spirit because he resides in us. And we do have the ability to look out for the good of others. And even though it's not the main point of the whole text today, he's going to be applying this through. I think we must ask ourselves. Are we concerned with our actions and if they are helpful and good towards other people? Have you ever sat down, thought through the day or thought through things that you're planning on doing and consider these actions and evaluate if they're actually helpful or if they are detrimental to other people? Are they helpful in proclaiming the gospels for them? Are they helpful in bringing a brother or sister along? Are they helpful in training your children in the Lord? Or are they detrimental? There are good things that we can do that can be detrimental. In fact, I would say that on an average day, we do many, many lawful and perfectly acceptable things in the eyes of the Lord out in public. They're not simple in and of themselves. However, most of us never consider if they are actually building up others or if they are harmful. Or they just may be neutral. How does our actions affect others? Have you considered that recently as a Christian, one who is a representative of the holy God who has been a changed person? Are you considering your actions? Are they building up your family? Are they pointing your children to the cross? Are they building up the local church? Are they pointing your unbelieving neighbors to the cross? Or are you more concerned with your own fulfillment in life without any concern of anyone else? And you pick and you choose to walk in this life without any concern of how this affects the gospel going forth. I think if we're honest with ourselves, the overwhelming majority of us fall into that camp, including myself. There are too many times when we look around and we make decisions based on what's best for us without ever considering how this affects the gospel going forth in our life. Does it affect the evangelistic relationships that we have? Does it affect our family? Does it affect the local church body that we're members of? So Paul says, all things are lawful, but not all of them are helpful. Not all things build people up. He's going to apply that for us. We need to be very mindful as we walk through our life. Are we actually doing lawful things and good things that build people up or we just do whatever we want without any concern for our neighbor? Because if we are changed people, that is our call today. Because of Christ's work in our lives, we do this. We are different than our own nature. We get to our second point. Paul is going to apply this to a specific example that they have going on in their church. And he says this, starting in verse 25. In relation to their eating meat. He says, eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the grounds of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. One of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you're disposed to go eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the grounds of conscience. But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice and do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of the conscience. You don't 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 which I give thanks? The pulp example, go something. Let me let me summarize it. Go something like this. You're allowed to eat meat from the market and not worry about its origin. Because the earth is all the Lord's and the fullness thereof is his. And if you buy meat from the market, you aren't participating in any kind of celebration meal or any kind of worship of an idol. You're simply getting food and eating it regardless of where it came from. And so if an unbeliever invites you over to dinner and you want to go eat, that is good. You eat what is set before you without worrying about where it came from. Don't sit down and say, was this offered to these idols and start checking off your list? Where did this meat come from? Do you know this cow's name? Was it raised well? You don't have to know that. Just eat what is put in front of you. There's no need to worry about it. You aren't in any kind of worship setting. Eat the food. But if your host or possibly may make more sense, another believer is there with you and says this food was, in fact, sacrificed to an idol. Paul says, then don't eat it. Is it lawful to eat that? Yes. Is it helpful in that situation to eat this? Paul says no, because the person who told you this obviously thinks this is a problem and you don't want to offend their conscience. You don't you don't want to to cause any confusion with the gospel. I think there could be confusion on both sides in that situation. Could be confusion for a believer who thinks it may be sinful to eat it and also for the one serving it. Now, if you if you continue to eat and another one doesn't, they don't have a clue what Christians actually believe. There will be weird conversations. So Paul says it's OK not to eat it. Just say I'll pass on this that was offered to an idol for now and move on. In this concern or in this situation, Paul is showing that the concern is for the person that you're eating with more than it is for your own conscience. The concern is that you will not confuse or damage another person's conscience because that's not really helpful in understanding the gospel. See, it wouldn't bring glory to God for us to offend this person who is concerned about this. It might confuse them or push them away by harming their conscience, and that's not helpful, nor is it loving, nor is it seeking the good of your neighbor in that situation. There will be times to have those conversations, but Paul says, basically read the situation. And there are times when you need to set your freedoms aside for the advancement of the gospel. I think it's very instructive what Paul does not recommend for us to do in these situations. This is one example. There will be many situations for us that are different than eating food, where there'll be an issue of conscience that comes up in the Christian life. And he doesn't recommend that we start into a theological explanation or a lecture on why we can eat this meat. An unbeliever that hasn't understood Christ's work won't benefit from that and that situation. I suspect that some of us here would want to choose this path. We would want to explain ourselves and why it's OK to eat this meat and try to encourage someone else is OK to eat this meat and why we have this freedom. But notice Paul saying we shouldn't do that. It would be seeking our own good, our own desire to eat or to have this thing that we so desire at that moment. As opposed to what is good for our neighbor, what is good for the one that is there with us. Secondly, he doesn't recommend that we change our own beliefs because of these situations. Some of us here might want to use This is a situation to change our beliefs or set some kind of rule that we oppose upon ourselves and then also oppose it upon and implement it upon other people that we should never eat this sort of food or whatever situation we're in. You should not do this ever because there's some confusion in the Christian circle. Then just avoid it at all costs. And we might even justify our actions and say it's our desire to evangelize and see all people come to know Jesus. So we're going to do whatever this freedom is we have. And we're going to tell you, you can't do it either. This is legalism. And I don't really think this is an outrageous line of reasoning. In fact, I hear it often, even this week talking to a to a group of pastors that I met with. We talked about this legalism and this exact line of reasoning that people were using to impose prohibitions on alcohol, on other things, caffeine, certain foods that you can and can't eat, the ways that you have to dress or can't dress. The list goes on and on and the things that in this culture that we try to impose upon people when there are really some freedoms there. So he does not recommend that we go into a theological diatribe. He doesn't recommend that we change our convictions or our beliefs. And thirdly, he doesn't say that we eat anyway with no explanation at all. I suspect that some of us would be inclined to do this. It's a lot easier just to brush off any references to our faith, to brush off any references to some things that that are freedoms of ours. And just to say, oh, it's OK, and then change the subject and just keep eating. That isn't helpful either. It may be good for you because you haven't had to to discuss the reasons you haven't had to worry about offending your hosts. But what you've done is not being kind to your neighbor. I would like to offer up a different option in situations where we have Christian freedom. like this one. There may be times where we if we're in the same situation, we abstain from eating this one particular dish, this meat, and then the rest of the meal time together, we take time to share, not about the freedoms that we have in Christ because we're in an unbelievers home, but actually about Christ himself. We don't try to fix the little misunderstanding about what freedoms Christians have until we Try to fix the greater misunderstanding of who Christ is. You see, in this situation, Paul says, if you're an unbeliever's home, this situation would happen, and oftentimes when we're dealing with unbelievers, we want them to understand every little detail about what we believe. And we skip over the big detail that there is a holy God, that as mankind, we are sinful. And that we will incur the wrath and justice of this holy God. But this this perfect man, this holy God, Jesus, has come and died on the cross for us. And all those who believe in him will be saved. That is a better way to get around these freedoms is to try to fix the big problem and not worry about these side freedom issues. And then at some point. We may can circle back around to things like what foods we can eat. Now, I want you to understand that I'm not talking about non-essential items. I am talking about non-essential items such as did you eat this type of food or not? I'm not talking about these these major Christian doctrines that we should just Skip aside. I'm not talking about those. We must be vocal about who Christ is. We must be vocal about the work on the cross. We must be vocal into the change and centers to life. We must be clear about where we stand on the sanctity of human life. We must be clear where we stand. about a child's worth. We must be clear where we stand on God's design for the family. We must be clear on what Scripture says about sin and that we not call sin good. We must be clear on these things. What Paul is referencing to, referencing, is these freedoms, these secondary issues. We are not to give up these great doctrines that point towards the cross. But these other issues, That we let them lie and we willingly give up our freedoms for the advancement of the gospel. So Paul has said not all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful and that we should seek not our own good, but the good of our neighbors, and then he applies that to their current situation. That is not our current situation in this country, but we have situations like that. Or we are places and there are side issues and freedoms being discussed. And oftentimes it will be best for us to to put our freedoms aside for the advancement of the gospel. And that brings us to Paul's main point of today's little section. He says, so whatever you eat or drink. And whatever you do, do all for the glory of God, give no offense to Jews or degrees to the Church of God, just as I try to please everyone and everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of the many that they may be saved, be imitators of me as I am of Christ's. How often is this used out of context? How often do we make a decision and we start doing something and then we try to find out how we can make that action pleasing to God? And we should be looking at the actions that we're doing and see if they are pleasing to God. But what Paul is specifically talking about here is not, I'm already running track. Athletes use this all the time or playing sports. I should find a way to do this in a pleasing way. Yes, we should be doing that. But what Paul is saying here is, Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do for the glory of God, the decisions that you make before you make that decision, is it going to glorify God or is it not? Is it going to be beneficial in raising people up and pushing them towards the gospel or is it not? Brothers and sisters. We are. To do things in this world and to choose things that honor The Lord Jesus. He did the very same thing. He did things in this world that honored the Father. So before you make a decision to eat some food or not, or whatever decision you're making. Try to evaluate and see if it's good, good for and helpful for others, not seeking yourself. That may mean. This was difficult for me. That may mean that we've been to other people's diets when we have them over to our house. That may mean that when we go to an unbeliever's house, that we've been to their diets. And that outside of harmful medical situations, if there's things we don't want to eat normally, it's out of our normal diet, that we just do that because it's good for them to see us in their house, even though we don't really want to eat it. It may mean that there's times where we need to abstain from alcohol. I see two major camps on this, on far ends. I see those that that would be legalistic say you should never even consider seeing a bottle of alcohol, even in a store. Don't even look at it. To others that almost use their freedoms to above and beyond everything else, to where they want to go into pubs and sing hymns for a reason to go to a pub. They try to push this on others. Maybe we need to be in the middle. And there are times when it's OK and times where we better abstain. Maybe we need to make sure that we don't offend others by our actions or our speech, even if the thing that we're doing is perfectly OK. It's not sinful. Maybe it could be perceived that way or maybe the words in which we say or the manner in which we say it isn't necessarily sinful, but in a certain context, it could be perceived that way. I've heard this mantra in America so many times when people say things like, That's just the way I am. And I think there is no there's no concern for anyone else. That's just the way I am. I'm going to eat whatever I want to eat. I'm going to drink what I want to drink. I want to do whatever I want to do. I'm going to say what is what is out there. I'm going to throw it out regardless if it hurts someone else. It doesn't matter. That's just the way I am. The Western society, a lot of people like that. That's the way I am. Be who you are. Paul is saying, don't be who you are. Be one that honors Christ, be one that is concerned about others above yourself. Be aware of your actions and what you're doing in your life to know if they're seeking your own good or if they're seeking the good of others, your family, your neighbors, your church members, your spouse. I actually read a quote this morning. Early this morning from an editor at the Gospel Coalition, he he said this, the Lord of heaven and earth has decided to hitch his reputation to your local church and by extension to you. Paul is telling us the Corinthians and us this very thing. Do what's good for others, the Lord's reputation is riding upon that. He tells us why we should be doing these things. Not only does it care for other people, but there's a bigger there's a bigger issue at stake. That they would be saved. That they would be saved. By our actions, we would be used by God to be his mouthpiece to share the gospel of Christ. If you don't know how to do that, Paul says, just look to my example. Read Scripture, see what I'm doing and do those very things. He worked for the benefit of others. Now, I think our application for today is that we must evaluate our lives and see if we are doing this thing that Paul is describing. Are we making decisions that bring glory to Christ? We doing this in all things, whether it be what we eat, drink, where we live, where we work, how we live. How we dress, the things we do. Or are we just doing whatever we want to do and we hope in the end it will all shake out. Sometimes reformed people like to say God is sovereign, so it doesn't matter. Like we don't we can do whatever and it's OK. I think Paul seems to be very concerned here about the way that we act and the things that we do. And it's not because we're trying to earn anything or that we can do this on our own, but because we are changed people. Do you believe that God has changed you through Christ? If so, look to him and follow and look to the care of others. John MacArthur offered up some very helpful suggestions on how we are to to evaluate our own lives. And to know if we are doing doing what is pleasing to the Lord, if we are looking to make our actions point people towards the gospel. He said, Are you choosing edification over gratification? Are you choosing to edify others? Are you choosing to gratify yourself? Our culture says that we are to gratify ourselves. If you look at this election cycle and listen to the candidates talk, they have different ways of going about it, but you know what they're going about doing? What brings the most gratification to their constituents? We see it in work all the time in the business world. We see it in groups of people in neighborhoods. Everyone is over their own gratification as opposed to the edification of those around them. So as you start to do something in your life and make a decision, ask yourself, is this for my own gratification or does it edify others and point them towards the Lord Jesus? Secondly, he says, are you choosing others over yourself or are you choosing yourself over others? Are you deferring to what is best for other people? This is, again, not a way that we do things in this country. You do what's best for you. You've got to be number one. That's what the culture will tell you. You probably heard the phrase, it's not personal, it's only business, as if that justifies treating people poorly. We can't do that. We are to look to others over ourselves. And lastly, ask yourself, are you treating others with liberty or are you treating others with legalism? In non-essential things, let us have liberty instead of legalism. Let us put on hold our our own convictions sometimes on non-essential things that have charity as we treat other people. Not for our own benefit, but so that they would see the Lord Jesus and there would be opportunities for us to to encourage believers and to proclaim Christ to those who don't believe. Richard Sibbes wrote, if you don't know who he is, he's a Puritan, he's written several books and they're good, the parts of them that I've read. And he says this, whatever takes up the heart most, which they attribute more to God, more to than God, that is their idol and their God. For many Christians, many people in this country, our idol and our God is self above and beyond everything else. We care more about ourself than we do the glory of our God, which Paul says that we get to by putting others first. Is this your outlook on life? Do you seek to put yourself first or do you look to glorify God in all that you do? Let me tell you, you cannot do this on your own. There is no way you can walk out that door and say, I'm going to do everything right in my own power from here on. We must rely on the Lord to provide us the ability through the Holy Spirit to walk in a way and to have the desire and the ability to put others first. I say we do that by prayerfully reading Scripture, by prayerfully asking that that God would expose to us our sin, that we prayerfully consider all the actions that we do and we look to glorify him in all things. And we do these things because Christ has changed us and we want to see the advancement of the gospel. Our desire should be Paul's here. I try not to please. I do this not for my own advantage, but that of the many that they may be saved. Hopefully, this is your outlook on life, and if it's not, be praying and asking that the Lord would Make it your outlook. So as I close, I want to encourage you through the words of Paul today. 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. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do for the glory of God. Let us pray. Father, we Ask that you would be kind to us and change our sinful hearts. Give us a desire to make much of you and not make much of our own selves. Give us a desire to care about others. To care about their well-being, to care about their salvation. More than we care about our own freedoms in Christ. Father, we ask that you would keep us from running over people with our legalism. We ask you that you would keep us and you would guard us from running over people with our liberties. We ask that you would guard us and keep us from running over people with our nonchalant attitude about the way we do everything in this world. We ask that you would guard us from our carelessness. And that you would put a great desire in us to care and to love for those in this room with us, for our families and for those that are our neighbors, those who live next door to us, those that share the street with us, those that that share fences with us. Father, we ask that you would help us to have gospel conversations with them. To build relationships that are good and bring you honor and glory. We ask that you would work in us so that we would bring you pleasure and we would bring you glory by our actions and that we would be pleasing to you as you hit your reputation upon us. Father, we ask that you would keep us focused on the Lord Jesus and help us to see that we are not able to do this of our own power, but that we are only able to do this through the work of the Lord Jesus. Father, we pray all these things in His name. Amen.