Preach all over the place. I think we just get little snippets of what God's Word has to say. But tonight, I want us to look at this, A Church in Conflict. It's lesson number 10. You should have a scripture sheet. And I want to talk to you about the limits of liberty. The limits of liberty. Now, this church, Corinth, was definitely a church in conflict. They had all kinds of problems. They were fighting over who was their favorite preacher. They were fighting over who had the best gifts. Who could speak in tongues better than somebody else? Who had the word of knowledge? Who had this? Who had that? They just had all kinds of arguments. There was chapters one to four that we saw. There was division in the church for many reasons. Then, chapters five and six, there were issues that needed church discipline, and they did it. They obeyed the voice of the apostle, and they They put out from among them that man that was offending. Of course, he later repented. You're going to find out when we get to 2 Corinthians. He repented, and then some of the folks, evidently, when you get to chapter 2, they were so adamant about putting him out that they didn't want to receive him back. So Paul had to—then he had to correct them and say, OK, OK, you put him out, now receive him back. Don't leave him out. You're going to be adding sorrow to sorrow there. They practice the church discipline. Then we get to a completely new section, chapter 7, all the way through chapter 14, verse 11, that talks about difficulties in the church. I did this with you last week. I want to do it again. Look there at chapter 7, if you would. It says, chapter 7, verse 1, Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me. And now verse number 10 of chapter 7, Now to the married I command. And then chapter 7, verse 25, Now concerning virgins. And then jump over to chapter 8, verse 1, where we're going to pick up tonight is now concerning the things offered to idols. And we're going to talk about idolatry in the Christian. And you're going to say, well, what do you mean idolatry in the Christian? This chapter, Pastor Phil, is about meat being offered to idols and what they were supposed to do about it. Does that have anything to do with us today? I mean, in this culture that we live in, the Western culture, has anybody Are we having arguments in our church over whether we're supposed to eat meat offered to idols? I mean, you know, I don't know about any meat being offered to idols, and I don't know about any sacrifices going on, so can't we just jump to this chapter? The Bible says that everything that was put in here was put in here for our example and for our teaching and learning. There's got to be something. So we're going to look at it, and I want you to look at it with me tonight. So let's talk about understanding the limits of Christian liberty. Let me say a word. As we look at these books of 1 and 2 Corinthians, We have shown that it was full of big problems. One might be tempted to condemn them for the shape in which the church was found. There were cases of incest. There were arguments over who had the best spiritual gifts. Marriages were falling apart. They had cyclical divorces. They were swapping wives. I mean, they were doing all kinds of things at this church. People were living together unmarried. It was a city that was just rife with pedophilia. And sodomy and some of it had gotten its way into the church. There were just all kinds of things that were going on. It may seem even unbelievable to us of how terrible the situation was. Well, we have some things that we need to remember, and that is that they were in the first stages of spiritual growth, that this city was a very, very, very dark city. There wasn't any light there at all, and God, in His graciousness, sent Paul there. He began to preach. He turned the light on. And the best thing to do about darkness is to turn on the light, not scream about how dark the world is and how horrible the world is and how bad. I mean, we can do that until we're blue in the face. What we're supposed to do is we're not supposed to just wave our hands and wag our hands at the darkness. We're supposed to turn on the light. Well, that's what God did through the apostle Paul. He went to Corinth. They received the gospel light. And if I can just put it this way, it was such a blinding light and the way of living the Christian life was so radically different. It was as if they had been in the darkness for so long, the light was so bright when it came on that they were still squinting. They were having a hard time adjusting to the righteousness that God was really claiming. Now let me just say this to you. I want to reiterate this. I've said it time and again as we've studied this. It's amazing to me that Paul did not pare down his message according to the culture that he was in. He had patience with them. He was kind to them. You're going to see just how tender and tactful he is in the next three chapters concerning meats offered to idols. But the point is that he did not change his message of what was right and what God required according to the culture where they were living. It was very dark. I mean, the temptation would have been, You know what, everybody, you know, if we could just get these people to just get, if they could just get married six times instead of twenty times, that would be great. No. God's standard was one man, one woman, one lifetime. That's what His standard was. Now, if we could just get these people to, you know, if they just stop, you know, if they would just stop all the fornication, then we'd be, no. He said, I want them to live holy lives. In other words, Paul did not pare down, he didn't change or make, you hear this all the time, He didn't make his message culturally relevant to the people of his time. It was already relevant. They had just floated so far away from the safe moorings of good holy living that they had no clue what he was talking about. It seemed so far away. The best thing to do is to preach the truth. That's what he did. So we have to – it was a wicked culture. And they were coming out of it. It's tempting to be hard on Corinth, but I would have to say that it was a wicked culture, but so is ours. The one advantage that we have is we have Bibles available on every street corner. We have radio programs that are just without end, television, evangelists, if any of them are any good. I mean, there's all kinds of things that are out there available for us, but do remember Corinth had no New Testament, and Corinth had very few, if any, of the Old Testament. They had to really fight just to get to hear the Word of God. too hard on them. Now, we enter a section where Paul continues to answer the issues that the Corinthians were facing. This discussion that he talks about right now concerning meat for idols goes on for three chapters. You say, wow, you mean it's really that big of a deal? Yeah, it was a big deal to them, therefore there must be something there for us. It has to do with just how free a person is in Christ. They were indeed set free from Old Testament ceremonial law But were they also free to do whatever they wanted, even if it hurt other people? That's going to be the real question. Just how free is a Christian? Just what are the lengths of liberty that a Christian can take in their Christian life? You know, these are some of the more difficult chapters in all of the Bible when it comes to how to live the Christian life. But the establishment that we have, or what is established in these three chapters of the Bible with the addition of Romans 14. You need to write that down somewhere on your side of there. Add Romans 14 to that. And these chapters deal with Christian behavior and the things that we have freedom to do, but not necessarily are the right thing to do. We have studied in various venues here at the church recently a small group study. We started it with mugs, then it went into the ladies' meeting, and now it's in about half the small groups of the church. It's called The Best Question Ever. Has any of you studied that yet? How many of you already studied The Best Question Ever? The Best Question Ever is a study based on Proverbs, and the best question to ask of every situation, what is it you guys know? What is the what? Wise thing to do. And there's three phases to that. What is the wise thing to do in light of my past history? What is the wise thing to do in light of my present circumstances? What is the wise thing to do in light of my future expectations? What I see right out in front of me. These passages of Scripture really do address the exact same thing. For a Christian, it's not, what can I get away with? It's not, what do I have permission to do? It's not, what liberty do I have and how far can I go? It is, what is the wise thing to do? And what is my choice, my decision going to do to other people around me? And he picks up the issue of that day, which was eating meat offered to idols. Today, I don't think our issue, at least here in the United States, has to do with eating meat offered to idols, but there are many other issues about personal indulgence and about activities that we might get involved in or entertainment that we have to ask ourselves a question. It was about eating meat offered to idols. The pagan temples, just to give you the background so you understand this chapter, the pagan temples had sacrificial systems. Each day, the best animals were sacrificed in these pagan temples, and the best pieces of meat were taken by the temple priest, and then all the other good cuts of meat that weren't burned up in the sacrifices. You see, there was always the copycats. You know, when Judaism was set up for the sacrificial system, for blood to be spilled to cover sins, all Satan did was just add that right to what the pagan systems were, and they sacrificed too, but for different reasons. And so all of the other good cuts of meat that weren't sacrificed or given to the temple priest were sold in the markets, and then those markets resold all of that meat to the public. It would basically be like Hy-Vee and Dolls both ending up with both ceremonially clean and ceremonially painted meat and not telling you about it. You go down to the Dolls store and you come in and you look for the section that says, meat not sacrificed to an idol. They don't have that section. It's just not there. They just put it all in there because they're afraid they won't get it sold. It all looks good. In fact, remember, the best animals were sacrificed at the temples, not given straight to the store. So they were glad to get this meat after it had been sacrificed. So what was a Christian to do? Those that were coming out of Judaism had no problem. You say, why didn't they have a problem? Well, because in Judaism, they had forever bought all of their meat in kosher markets. They bought certain kinds of meats, and then they bought meat that had never, ever been sacrificed to an idol. And knowing the pharisaical system that they had, that meat was probably at a great premium. It probably cost a whole lot more than all the rest of the meat. And so, money being tight, they probably went down and said, well, I wonder if I can figure out which of this meat in the regular store here, the regular market, can I go and figure out which is which? Well, I'll just buy some. And they had bought it. You say, well, what's the big deal? Why are they so worried about it? What does this meat sacrifice to idols thing? Flip back over in your Bible to Acts chapter 15, if you would please. Acts chapter 15. Very interesting. Acts chapter 15. They had a big council. The Apostle Paul had been up at Antioch, and Peter had been there, and some different members of the church at Jerusalem had gone up to spy out the freedom, to check out these Gentiles who were getting saved all over the world at this radical, rabble-rouser Paul was going and preaching everywhere and he was just such a he was such a liberal you know he didn't make anybody get circumcised he didn't make anybody join the synagogue he didn't make anybody you know it didn't have to take their children to the temple the eighth day I mean he didn't do any of that stuff I mean he was just preaching the gospel to these Gentiles and tell them to stop lying and stop hating and stop envying people and get right and get baptized I mean he was preaching the issues of the heart But the Jerusalem church decided to run up there and check them out. When they got up there, you remember what happened to Peter. Peter decided, well, I got to quit eating with these people because they may be eating unceremonious, ceremonial, unclean meat. I better not do it. And so Peter separated himself. Paul got all over him. They decided to have a council. They went to Jerusalem. They laid their cases out before the elders that were at the church, James being the ruling elder, the chief elder, the speaker of the church at Jerusalem. So what happened? They decided, they prayed, they decided, they met, and here's what it comes down to. It says in verse 27, chapter 15, verse 27, We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by the word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things, that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourself from these things, you will do well. Farewell." So James writes a letter, and he says, here's the conclusion of the whole matter. Point one, don't eat anything offered to idols. Well, that was coming from twelve Jews that were the elders, or at least eleven Jews that were the elders of the church there in Jerusalem, plus Peter. And so they give this verdict, don't eat anything offered to idols. And so the Christians left Jerusalem now, and they're going all over the world, Starting churches, and they're getting them going, and a lot of them are carrying these four things with them. Nothing strangled, nothing offered to idols. Watch out for sexual immorality. It all sounded good. Well, they got to a place like Corinth, and all these people were, what do you mean don't eat all the meat in Corinth that's been offered to an idol? What, did we just become vegetarians? Many were becoming vegetarians. They didn't eat any meat at all because they didn't want to eat anything offered to an idol. It became a source of conflict. It became a who is more holy than who. That guy there, boy, we got to get away from him, you know. He just goes right in, eats anything they put before him. So you got one group over here. They're the non-idle meat eaters. You got another group over here. You got the idle meat eaters. You got the ones in the middle. They don't care, you know. It's not a big deal. Whatever. It doesn't make any difference to us. So you had factions in the church now. They're trying to get over Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and all that. They're trying to get over who can speak in tongues better than the next guy. They're trying to get over all... And what are they fighting over now? Well, now then, the big fight is, is I don't do this and you do, I'm better than you. Does that sound familiar? Well, fill in the blank. I mean, it could be whatever your choice, preference, personally might be, or what anybody else... I don't do that, I'm better than him. Lord, I thank you I'm not like this publican." Doesn't it sound like that, doesn't it? Remember that? All right, now let's just see what we can find here. Look at chapter 8, verse 1. Now, concerning things offered to idols, we know that we have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet, as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by him. Therefore, concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other god but one. For even if there are so-called gods, little g, make sure you note that, even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods, little g, and many lords, little l. In other words, there are many who people give god status to, and there are many who they're calling lords, but they're neither god nor lord. Yet for us, Paul speaking, there is one God, the Father of whom are all things, the Father of whom are all things, and we for Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things and through whom we live. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge. For some, with the consciousness of the idol until now, eat it, the meat that is, as a thing offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. But beware, lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, look at these verses, look at these words, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat lest I make my brother stumble. Limits to liberty. These folks had faced something. Some of the believers were very mature. They knew that idols were nothing. They enjoyed the meat. But younger Christians, both Jews and Greeks felt guilty about eating the tainted meat. Perhaps they were Gentiles who had participated in the offering of these meats before, and to them, they still had the vestiges, they still had the dregs of idolatry in their life. They couldn't seem to just get it all out. They still walked by the temple and in the shadow of it, and they would fear those priests, and they would fear those gods that they had worshipped before. They believed on Jesus, but they still They still had this fear. And so when they would see somebody eating meat that was supposed to be a higher up, mature Christian, they would either be offended that they were eating it or they would go against their own conscience and they would eat the meat and it would cause them to sin. And so what is a Christian? What was a Christian supposed to do? Can they eat? Can they eat any meat? Can they go to a party or a social gathering where others are eating meat? Do they practice? Secondary separation, you ever heard that word? Do they practice secondary separation from those who don't separate from those who don't separate from meat-tainted eaters, meat eaters? It's a big deal. Somebody might say, well, what about the simplicity that's in Christ? Yeah, that's the whole point. But there are a lot of people that are easily offended by the things we say and do. We're going to talk about this for three weeks. You say, really? You're going to talk about it? Yeah. 9 and 10, because all three chapters talk about the same thing. I want you to really tune in, and I want you to wear steel-toed boots so you will not be offended, and I want you to wear a hard hat so that something won't fall too heavy on your head. And I'm just going to teach you what these chapters say, and then I'm just going to leave them. And we're not going to come back and fight over these and argue over these and talk about these. We're not going to become, as a Bible class, divided over the very things we're studying that are supposed to be unifying us. But the truth is, I know some of the backgrounds of the people in this room right here. And I can tell you right now that there are people on all sides of what we're going to be talking about right here in this room. So let me share with you, beginning right here in this passage of Scripture, here's some things we know. Verse 1 to 3. We know what we know. Write that down. We know what we know. Verse number one, now concerning things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. We know we all have knowledge. Now that first word, knowledge, is oida. Now I'm not going to get into a whole bunch of Greek, but that's the O-I-D-A. You might want to write that little word down. And it means that we have knowledge. We all have knowledge intuitively. Intuitively. Just by instinct or without effort, there are just some things that everybody knows. If you trip, you're going to fall. If you throw something up in the air, it's going to come down. I mean, there's just things that everybody knows. And there's certain things about human nature that everybody knows. You hit your thumb, you hit your thumb with a hammer, it's going to hurt. You know, I mean, we know things. And if it doesn't hurt when you hit your thumb with a hammer, I need some instructions because it's killing me down in my basement right now. But let me just go ahead. We all have knowledge intuitively. And then, number two under that, we all have knowledge inductively. We all have some knowledge inductively. And what is that? Well, that's acquired knowledge. That's knowledge that we gain by observation, by participation, by study, by experience, just living. We acquire knowledge. Some people acquire it a lot faster than others. Some people are very diligent about the acquisition of knowledge. And the word knowledge comes from the word science. Even in Spanish, we even say it that way, ciencia. And it means to know things that are observable. I just laugh my head off at people talking about science and evolution being science. and creation being faith, I would like to know who has ever empirically observed evolution for 30 seconds. It's not science. Interesting, isn't it? But the word knowledge, we all have knowledge. Some of it we just know, some of it we gain. There's some trouble sometimes with the second kind of knowledge. Look what it says in verse number one. Knowledge, second kind of knowledge, not the first kind. The first kind is oida. The second kind is another Greek word that I can't remember right now, but it is a different Greek word, and it means the acquired accumulated knowledge, and that kind of knowledge puffs up. What does it mean, puff up? Well, it means it makes you proud. Is there anybody more proud than a person that's got more degrees than a thermometer? I mean, you know, I mean, it takes... It takes a very humble person. It takes a person's control by the Spirit of God. It really does. Because as the amount of knowledge that a person has goes up, a condescending spirit also settles, and they look at other people as poor, ignorant people. And it's just the way it is. Knowledge puffs up. There's no argument there. It just does. Let me give you a biblical example. A priest and a Levite went to Jericho. And on the way to Jericho, the priest who was very knowledgeable about the sacrificial system, knowledgeable about, quote unquote, church stuff, and was very knowledgeable about it, he was knowledgeable, but he had no compassion. And then the Levite, he could have argued chapter and verse about every little thing. He could have argued, you know, maybe, I don't know, scroll, and they didn't have chapter and verse, I don't know what they had, you know, scroll, page nine, whatever. He could have argued that stuff until the cows come home. I mean, he had knowledge, but he just didn't care. And so the priest and the Levite came and saw the man that fell among the thieves and didn't do anything about it, but a Samaritan, who no doubt had no knowledge, had something that was far superior. What did he have? He had love. He had compassion. Look at your verse. It says, verse number one, he said, knowledge puffs up, but love Write it this way, builds up. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. It's very trite, very often used. It's overused, but I've never heard a better statement than this one. That is, is nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. That has got to be one of the best statements of the 20th century, 21st century, whatever we're in. I'm so old, I don't know. But here's the point. Knowledge puffs people up. unless they add to the knowledge the love that you're supposed to have. You say, well, why does that come in this chapter? Because you see, the key to these three chapters is that very verse right there. The key to understanding this verse is that this chapter, this whole issue about Christian liberty and what can I let myself get away with, what can I get involved in, what can I drink, where can I go, how can I spend my money, can I go to the casino? All of these things They all have to be filtered through. My knowledge of whether something is chapter and verse wrong or not is not as important as whether I love other people enough around me who may not have that same knowledge to restrain myself. Love is the answer to all of the things you're going to see in the next three chapters. Real Christian love. Love builds up. Paul is going to spend an entire chapter talking about the superiority of love in chapter 13. It seems trite to say it, that no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care, but it's true. This thought of Christian love for the brethren is the solution as we come to the conclusion after these three weeks, so don't miss it. Love builds people up. And I trust that as we do this, we can all grow up in love. So let's go ahead and I want you to see something in Romans 13.8. I don't know if you have it on your sheet or not, but Romans 13.8, let me just read this to you. Oh, no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Now listen to this. Paul is writing and he's going to be quoting Jesus. He said, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. You shall not covet. And if there's any other commandment, they are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Why? Because love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. If you love your friend, your neighbor, your brother, your sister, you won't commit adultery with their mate. If you love your friend, your brother, your sister, your neighbor, you won't steal what they have. You see, love fulfills the law. And so that's why Jesus said the great commandment is love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. And if you do those two things, you can hang everything else in the Bible on those two commandments. It's love. It's so very, very important. Now, the next thing, we all have knowledge, but the knowledge we have is only a measure of knowledge. In verse 2, it says, If anyone thinks he knows anything, but he knows anything, he knows nothing yet, as he ought to know. And the person who has the greatest knowledge has very little knowledge compared to what he doesn't know. I mean, you take the smartest man that ever lived, some think it was Albert Einstein. What he knew was astounding, but compared to what he didn't know, it was nothing. And there was so much more to know. Listen to 2 Timothy 3, 7. We are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, the Bible says, and that's the day and age in which we live. The exponential growth of the accumulation of just general facts, data, and knowledge is exploding. We cannot build computers big enough to store all the stuff we know. It's impossible. You can't build a computer big enough, but you could put most of man's wisdom in a thimble. Think about that. Because wisdom, knowledge you can gain, but knowledge without the application of wisdom is worthless, and wisdom comes from God. And to us, Christ has become wisdom, and so it's very important. All right? We can know God best. Look at verse number three, and I could spend a week preaching on this verse, but if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. Now, this is not a reason not to study and learn the Bible. The Bible says very clearly, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. He's not giving us permission to just love God and not know. You can't love somebody you don't know. You understand that? I mean, you know, when Bonnie and I first went to Peru, people wanted, and we had come back for just a little brief time after being there a year and a half, that everybody wanted to know, well, don't you just love all those people down there? Don't you just love everybody? And it's just wonderful. And Bonnie told them the wisest thing. She said, well, we're growing to love them, but it's real hard to love people that you don't know anything about them. The more you know them and the more you get involved with their life, then the more, as you know them better, you're going to love them better. And here's what the Bible says. If we really, really, really, really love God, then God knows us and we know Him. That's what He's talking about. Love is the key to this chapter, and I want you to keep that in your mind as we go through. And so, we can all know God by loving Him. And number two, here's what else we can know from this chapter. We know what idols are. And I love this little verse in verse number four. Therefore, concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no other God but one. Idols are Nothing. They're nothing. You say, well, there's a whole lot of people in the world that think there's something. Well, yeah, there are. There's a lot of people in the world that think that these idols are even today. I mean, you'd think, well, surely in this 21st century, all the knowledge. Well, you know, a lot of people in the world now, there's all kinds of idolatry, but specifically we're speaking to the pagan idols made of stone, wood, you know, built with men's hands. That's what we're talking about in this passage of scripture. Idols are nothing. Next thing is idols are not God. Here's a good passage for you. Write this reference down. Psalm 115, 3 to 8. Here's a comparison. Our God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases. I love that verse. Their idols, speaking of the idolaters, their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak. Eyes they have, but they do not see. Ears, but they can't hear. Noses, but they can't smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet, but they do not walk. them are ridiculous, but the fact is there are people duped all over the world that believe in him. I don't know if you knew this or not, but Michelangelo sculpted an incredible masterpiece known as the Pieta. Does anybody know what the Pieta is? Okay, the Pieta. You know what that is? You've probably seen it many times. It is a marble depiction of Mary holding the dead body of Jesus. It's a beautiful, it's fantastic. Well, they say it's one of the greatest pieces of sculpture in all of history. And then Mary is holding the body of Jesus. But it's on display today at St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. And strangely, after Michelangelo finished the thing, he was so enamored with his work that he, Michelangelo the sculptor, began to worship at his own marble statue. Think about that. Somehow we get duped. The next thing is idols are thought to be gods, if you see there in verse number Five, for even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and lords, there are many people who think that there are gods. People today, the world over, make things out of metal, stone, wood, and are worshipped as gods. Don't hold your breath, but right up northeast of this town, on the northwest side of town, up near Madrid, there's a temple full of idols. Bonnie and I were in San Diego a few years ago. We were just blown away at how many Buddhist temples are in San Diego, California. More Buddhist temples in San Diego, California than gospel preaching churches. They're coming. They're coming. They're coming. And they're going to keep coming. And they worship all kinds of little figurines and idols and everything that you can think of like that. And so idols are thought to be gods. In India today, the pantheon of God numbers in the millions. So the question is, what is the draw? Why do people do that? Why was Israel so induced to worship something like that? And they did. They went hog wild into idolatry for a while until God took them to the land of idols, Babylon, for 70 years. They got their fill of it, and that was the end of it for them. They didn't go for any idols anymore. Take a minute and look over at chapter 10 so that you can understand why idolatry has such a strong pull. There's many obvious things. You know, you can't see the one true God. He's invisible. He is a spirit. You've got to worship him in spirit and truth. But the pantheon of God is something visible. I had somebody in Peru tell me one day that, you know, it's pretty difficult for them to worship God without some sort of relic in their hand because they just need to be able to touch something. Well, the Bible is very clear that you don't worship God that way, through touch or taste or feel or anything like that. I want you to look at this chapter 10. I want you to see this now. Very, very important. And we're going to get to this, but I'll just go ahead and show you verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing with which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? Talking about the Lord's Supper. The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? In other words, when we go into a time of communion, we are communing with recognizing our inclusion in the body of Christ and His sacrifice for us. All right? For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread. Observe Israel after the flesh. Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? Just give an example. We partake of the Lord's table. We participate. We are in union with the Lord. The Israelites partook of the sacrifices at the altar. They were participants. They were in union with what they were doing. Verse 19, what am I saying then, that an idol is anything or what is offered to idols is anything? It's a rhetorical question. There's nothing to an idol. There's nothing. The things offered to idols are nothing. But look what it says. Verse 20, Rather the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake. of the Lord's table of the table of demons. What is the draw to idols and idolatry? Demon inspiration. You have to go all the way back and remember the fall of Satan. I will ascend to the place of the Most High. You know what Satan has always wanted? What did he tell Jesus when he was tempting him? He said, I will give you all the kings of this world, everything that you see, and I have the power to do it, if you will but fall down and what? Worship Me. What is idolatry? Folks, please do not misunderstand. The people in Hinduism are not finding an alternative to the one true God. The people that are in Buddhism are not finding an alternative to the one true God. Confucianism is not finding an alternative to the one true God. All of these isms and idolatries that you can mention, every single false god and idol that has ever been invented in the world and fashioned by the hand of man, dreamed up in the mind of man, has been inspired by Satan himself in order to, knowing that man is hardwired for worship, and worship he will, even if he has to worship himself or worship the makings of his own hands. And Satan inspires people, and so when Hindus fall down and make sacrifices and give money and weep tears, they're doing it to Satan. Now that's radical, isn't it? You say, well, now those poor people don't know. That's what 2 Corinthians chapter 4 is all about. If there's anybody that's blinded in the world, it's the ones that are blinded or the lost. They're blinded. The God of this world has blinded their eyes lest they hear the good news of the gospel and come and believe. So when people bow down to an idol, they're bowing down to a demon and they don't even know it. That's the draw. That's why it's so strong worldwide. You say, well, wow, this is kind of weird. You know, we don't have a lot of idols around here in Des Moines. But it's worldwide, and it's growing, and it's coming, and we need to make sure we know what is happening. Idols are thought to be gods, but they're not. Idols can't be compared to God. Verse 6 says there, Yet for us there is one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we for Him, one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live. I love that. There is one God. He's the Father. All things are of Him. He conceived All things. They're His thoughts, His plans, and all people. I love this phrase here, and we are for Him. You see that? And we for Him. We are made for Him. Our purpose is for God. And then there's one Lord Jesus Christ, and all things are through Him. He created all things. Here's a verse reference. Write this one down right there that goes along with that verse. Romans 11, 36 says, For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. So everything is everything is conceived by God. Everything is created by Christ. And and that's who that's who we are. All people live in Jesus, live in Christ. Act 17, 28. In him, we live and move and have our being. Some, number three, we know that some people don't know about idols. And verse number seven is very important. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge. For some, with consciousness of the idol, until now, eat it as a thing offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. They think idols are real, they still eat the food that is tainted, and they wound their weak conscience. So what should we do? Those that have knowledge are going to go on exercising their liberty, and the weak brother is going to see a strong brother do it, and it will cause him trouble in his mind, his conscience will eat away at him, and he'll wonder if those strong Christians are sinning and leading him to sin. The next thing is, and I want you to see this, is we know what God requires of us. He requires that we love the weaker brethren. Remember, the answer to this limits to liberty. You say, well, you're talking about idols. And Pastor, there's not a person in this room that's bowing down to an idol. The issue is, could they eat meat offered to idols? Could they eat the meat that had been offered to idols? To some, it was anathema. To some, it wasn't a big deal. To others, they just didn't know. They were confused. We could take all kinds of other issues. Can I take a drink? Can I go to the casino? Is the way I spend my money, is it all up to me? Can I look at the R-rated film? Can I do that? Do you remember the borderline believer thing that we talked about back in the book when we were studying Joshua? It's the same thing all over again. What can we do? We that are mature and know that food and drink and all these things really don't mean anything, there's nothing to it, it doesn't make any difference at all, are we just free to do anything we want to do anytime we want to do it? That's the question. And see, that is what this issue is all about. But the second thing is, is we know what God requires. He requires that we love the weaker brother. Verse number 8, But food does not commend us to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not are we the worse. First thing we have to know is our diet does not impress God. Our diet does not impress God. But, the next thing you have to notice in verse number 9, But beware, lest somehow this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to those who are weak. Our diet doesn't impress God, verse 8, but our liberty can distress our brother. It can cause him to fall. Let me give you an example. This is a very difficult subject. I take a personal stand. I will not, will not take a sip of an alcoholic beverage. Period. End of sentence. It won't happen. You say, do you take NyQuil? Please, will you please get on it? Get real. I'm not going to take a recreational beverage into my body that is going to give my son a reason to do it, too. I'm not going to do that. However, not everybody is convinced like that. Not everybody has the same idea as I do. Here is the issue. Here is something that I want you to see, and that is this. Our diet does not impress God. The guy that decides like me, okay, I am never going to do that. Is God impressed with me because I did that? No. Is God impressed with me if I become a drunk? No. Is He going to punish me if I become a drunk? Yes. Is God impressed with me if I have this list of do's and don'ts and none of which we can point to and say, you know, it's this area? You know, there are things in the Bible that are abundantly clear. You know, like, thou shalt not steal. Any questions? You know, thou shalt not lie. Then there are all kinds of other things in there. Now, I want you to see something here. Our diet or our choices in many areas Do not impress God, but our liberty can distress our brother. Here's how it can distress our brother. One, it can become a stumbling block. Number two, nine says bewareless. Somehow this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block. It could become a license. I can say, well, I have Christian liberty. Therefore, I have license. I have liberty in Christ. I'm not saving myself. I'm not getting myself to heaven by doing this or doing that or not doing this or not doing that. It's not by works. Therefore, I can do anything I want to. That becomes license, and license leads to lasciviousness, which is all kinds of sin. It can be a stumbling block. It can be a license. Next one, it can cause sin. I want you to see this. It says, For if anyone sees you who have knowledge, eating in an idol's temple will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols. Somebody said, big deal, that's his problem. Well, see, that's the problem. That's the deal. When a Christian thinks he can do anything he wants to do and it's nobody else's business and I don't care what they think about it, because I'm free to do what I want to do. Well, when we take that attitude, I want you to notice what it says in verse number 11. And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. For when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, strong words, you sin against Christ. If the choices I make, the activities in which I engage, and I like to stay away from the diet and the things you eat and drink and all of that, but I mean, you know what I'm talking about. There's all kinds of choices out there. Do I go here? Do I spend my money on that? Do I get involved here? Is it okay for me to take half my salary this year and go on a cruise? I mean, blah, blah, and we just go into all this stuff. And then somebody else looks at us and does those kinds of things. And they say, wow. Man, I was saved out of alcoholism. I used to be a drug addict. I did this. I was involved in all these kinds of things. And man, when I got saved, God took all of those things away from me. And look, this guy's been saved a long time, and he's doing them. It mixes people up, doesn't it? It's a very, very two-faced message. Paul ends up the thing by saying, He ends up the thing by saying that if food makes my brother to stumble and food happened to be the subject, I will never eat meat again lest I make my brother to stumble. He says, I'll just go on a diet and I'll never eat again because I'm not... It goes back to the love thing. Knowledge puffs up, makes us arrogant. We don't care about the other guy. We do what we want to do because we want to do it. But love builds up. So I'm always thinking about... This is not the end of the sentence on this subject tonight. And you guys got to come back next week and hear the rest of it. I'm running out of time. But decisions for strong Christians, we have to limit our liberty or give ourselves license and thus hurt a fellow Christian. That's the question. Do I limit my liberty? Or do I exercise it to the fullest degree? Let me give you an example. Carmen Suarez was just at our house and she sat at our table and shared with Bonnie and I about eating meat. Because in India, where she lives, in Calcutta, they worship what she would like on a plate. She came here and the first thing she wanted to do, I said, what do you want to do? She said, I want to go get the biggest hamburger in town. Remember that? I said, really? She said, I want a hamburger. And I said, really? And I said, I'm going to tell your Indian friends on you. And she said, no, no, no, please don't do that. Here's the point. They worship what she wants to put on her plate. You say, yeah, but when they get saved, don't they? But see, when they get saved, how long is it going to take for them to come to the realization that an idol is nothing? How long is it going to take for them to come to the place to realize that that cow isn't God? You know, I mean, their mother, their brother, their aunt, their uncle. I mean, Carmen said if she was to go buy meat and bring it in her home and cook it, she told us it would cancel out all of the ministry that she has with all of these different people that she's working with. And so she says, I can say with Paul, if eating meat is going to offend my brother, I will eat no meat. And she just doesn't eat meat. Get the picture? Now Paul was ready to give up meat in order to see people come to Christ and not to offend his weaker brother. Most of us are not asked to do anything anywhere close to that. But Christians should make choices and decisions in their lives about the way they live and limit their liberty on the basis of your little son, your little daughter watching and gaining license from you. on the basis of a weaker Christian who comes along and has been struggling with a certain issue all their life and then you come along and enjoy yourself doing it and it's not a big deal to you because you've got self-control and you're strong and you can get by with it and you just don't. And so blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I don't care what happens. You know what? You're sinning against Christ by harming a little brother. There's a verse in the Bible that says it would be better if a man hung a millstone around his neck and cast himself into the ocean than to harm one of these little ones. We always think that means little children. Now, God looks at all of us as little children. Remember 1 John chapter 2? My little children, John speaking. Remember that? Understand, we're not supposed to harm other people with our Christian walk. Point one. We'll get to point two next week. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this. Help me understand it so that I can teach it. Help me to say these things in a way that's not offensive, but at the same time is strong. Lord, help us not judge one another. Romans 14 says we're not supposed to be judging each other. Those that are mature, those that are settled in their faith have no business judging another man's servant. And God, our Christian brothers and sisters, are your servants, not ours. And Lord, please help us to be wise in all that we do. In Jesus' name, amen.