Hackberry House, welcome again to God's Word. Father, I thank you for the Book of Corinthians and the Apostle Paul who put it together and for the Holy Spirit who has brought these words down to us. Help them to get through to our heart. Show us your will. In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, Hackberry House is a website that you could get to real easily by typing into your computer myheartcry.net. When you go there, you'll find some written lessons that you can download and print out. And we're on Lesson 43 right now, Unit 10, Lesson 43, the Book of Acts and the Book of 1 Corinthians. We're taking the Bible chronologically for those who may not have heard yet. going all the way through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in a chronological way, in time order. Right now we're studying the life of Paul, therefore also the letters of Paul, and hopefully in just about the order that he wrote them in. We're in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 4. By the way, at that website you'll also find books about Romanism, books about the last days, books about the Bible itself. It has some pretty interesting stuff. I'd like you to go check that out and help yourself to any of it. It's yours free. Every once in a while I like to hear from people though. If you haven't done this yet, maybe you could sit down and to your computer, write me an email at aservant at myheartcry.net. Let me know you're out there, that you are listening, that God has touched you through something here perhaps. I have to be constantly apologizing for some of the technology problems I'm having here. The persons that I've asked so far don't seem to know exactly what to do to take that strange sound out of the recording. One person mentioned several hundred dollars might fix it. I decided we'll just live with the sound. I guess the heartiest of my listeners will stay with us. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 today, the stewards of the mysteries of God. As Paul continues his letter to this church in a very wicked city, and much of that wickedness rubbing off on these Christians who are not totally renewed yet. They're born again. They're new creatures in Christ, but they're very young, as he even says to them, that they're like babies in Jesus Christ. Some of them because they were just born, some of them because they didn't grow properly. He says it's required in verse 2, in a steward, that a person be found faithful. With me, it's a small thing that I should be judged by you." Notice he's reacting here. This is all, actually the first four chapters could be said to be a part of the same package here. He's reacting to the fact that they've been dividing into groups. He happens to be the head of one of the groups in their mind. Apollos another, Christ another. He says, you know, it doesn't bother me. It doesn't have anything to do with my true worth and identity that you are judging and putting me into groups like this. I'm not justified by this. I know nothing against myself. I'm trying to walk totally with God, but even so, I let God do the judging. I let God put me up on a pedestal if he wants to. He who judges me is the Lord. So don't decide anything about people until the time of the Lord comes. He's going to bring to light the hidden things inside of us. He's going to set things straight. Put things and people in order on that day. Everyone's praise will come from God. So you're going the wrong way when you make these groups up and set us up as little gods. Verse 6, I'm talking about myself and Apollos, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written. Even then, even here, in the days of the apostles, that the written word of God was considered the standard. Don't go beyond that. Who makes you differ from another? What do you have that you didn't receive? And if you did receive, you see, we're being set up here as though we're something important. And so you all think that people have important things, but in fact, in fact, we're all on the same playing field here. He says though, you know, verse 8, you guys are all ready. You have so much. But we are down at the bottom, really, if you think about it that way. We apostles shouldn't be held up at all. We're the very last. Look what God's doing. We're condemned to death. We're like a spectacle to the world, angels and to men. I mean, everybody who looks at us, who really knows what they're looking at, realizes that we are nothing. In fact, we're fools for Christ. We're weak. You are strong. You have, look at you, you're all secure. You have all these blessings of God. You've just received all these gifts and you're understanding the Word of God. You've got a church and great fellowship. What do we have? We're like Christ. We don't have a place to lay our head. We're nothing in the world. We even work with our own hands. We're not special people that get a special salary. No. We encourage people when they put us down. When people revile us, we bless them. When we're persecuted, we sit there and endure it. Is this the kind of life you wanted? If you're putting us up like this, maybe you'd like to try it sometime. No, you shouldn't be doing what you're doing. I don't write this to shame you, verse 14. I'm just trying to warn you. I'm like a father to you in Christ Jesus, so imitate me in this way. And I'm sending Timothy along to share with you how I really feel about life and to show you the basics of your Christian experience. Some of you are just so arrogant, verse 18, you don't even think I will ever come back to you. So you think, you people who are in the Apollos club, you think you can just write me off. No, I'm coming back and I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. I hope that when I come back, I won't have to use a rod, verse 21. He means that in the spirit, a heavy word from God, a rebuke. He hopes that he doesn't have to be that way when he comes. But this church is really out of order in a lot of ways. So he's covered the division thing. Now he goes right into another area, chapter 5, about sexual immorality. I mean, sexual immorality that hasn't even been used in the pagan world, he's saying. I can't believe you guys are doing this. One of you is actually jacking up with his mother-in-law. Now this is incredible. The Gentiles don't do this. And you're not only doing this, allowing it to happen in the church, that a man would actually live in a sexual relationship with his mother-in-law. Not only allowing it, but you're proud of it. Like you're some kind of liberated church, you know. You think you've advanced beyond the others in some way. You're proud of this. But you ought to be taking this guy and setting him aside, letting him know the truth. I want you to know, even though I'm not there, verse 3, my spirit's there. And I've already judged this man. I've already judged about the deed of this man. I want you to know this is sin. This is wrong. This man needs to be told. Verse 4, in the name of Jesus, the next time you get together, remember that my Spirit's going to be there right with you. And with the power of the Lord Jesus, I want you in Jesus' name and in all the authority that the apostles have and that Christ has, you get that man out of there. Deliver him to Satan. Get him out of the church. so that his flesh will be destroyed. Do you see how powerful it is? What he's saying? He's saying that in a truly spirit-filled, godly, holy church, there's protection. God takes care of his people. But when sin comes into that group, that sin has to go, lest the whole group be defiled. And when you take a man or a woman and put them outside the protection of that church, do you realize what happens to that man? When you're not under the umbrella, anything can happen to you. The enemy can just do what he wants to do, even up to killing you. Now, if you're in Christ and you repented that sin, you're saved. You're going to be on with going with the Lord. Look, that's a very eternally secure verse here. His flesh is going to be destroyed. but his spirit will be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. You see what he's saying there? How secure we are in Christ, but he's not going to be getting a whole lot of rewards on that day. He'll slip into the kingdom, but at the bottom end of things. But he can't stay here any longer if he's not going to live like he's supposed to live in the church. He's got to get out. He's going to hurt things. Get him out of there. You guys are proud of this, verse 6? Don't you know that if you take a little bit of yeast and put it into a loaf of bread before it's cooked and let it rise, it's just going to leaven that whole lump? That whole thing's going to get infected by it? Get rid of that old leaven, the old sin, that you can be a perfectly new lump of bread and dough in Christ. And he brings in the Passover image there when he's talking about the bread and all. So let's keep the feast, our connection to Jesus who is the Passover. That's a feast, that's a continual feast for us. Let's keep that feast with Christ our Passover in a pure, pure way. Purged out from that old leaven. And he gives some ideas of what old leaven looks like there in verse 8. And so, we're told in verse 9, it seems that he actually wrote to them another letter. before 1 Corinthians. And some people think that verse 9 is referring back to just the first few verses of chapter 5, but as you read through there and then you hit that verse, it just doesn't seem to quite fit. It looks like there's a letter that's been lost to us. I'm sure there were a lot of letters apostles wrote that were lost to us. God allowed to be preserved that word which he believed would be the perfect word for all of his church. There are a whole lot of things that Jesus did, for example, that we don't know about. We will know. We'll have perfect knowledge someday. Praise God. We'll see Him face to face. And we'll know then as we are known, in fact. But he says, there was this letter I wrote you, verse 9. I told you in that letter, I don't want you keeping company with people who are, like this man, sexually immoral. But now when I said that, I didn't mean just the people out in the world. Because you'd have to leave the planet altogether because everybody, I mean it's just everywhere, this sexual sin is everywhere. But now he says I'm talking about don't keep company with a person who's called a brother. That's what my instruction meant. If you know a Christian who is living in some kind of sexual or any kind of sin, Your responsibility to that brother is to withdraw your company and your fellowship from them and to let them know this is wrong. We serve a holy God. You can't live this way. He says, now I don't want you to discourage them. I don't want you to... I think that comes up in a little bit later on here. We'll talk about that later. There's a way to handle this. We're not judgmental and we're not even angry. We're very firm about this, we're as kind as we can be, but letting the brother know, you're going to have to repent if I can have any fellowship with you again. What am I to do, verse 12, judging those who are outside? It's not our job to be reforming the world. I better be careful how I say this, We are to preach morality among ourselves, but the morality of the Bible is for believers. Oh, it's for the whole world, but only the believers can hear it. And the people outside, although the Holy Spirit may lead a person to talk about these things from time to time, but basically these teachings of the Lord are for the Lord's people. They're the only ones who can really profit from them. So don't be shocked that when you're talking morality to other people that they don't understand or don't hear you, don't want what you have. Of course they don't. How could they want what you have? The sad thing is when believers don't want it either, at least so-called believers. It lets us know where they're at where the word of correction won't go through to them, won't touch their heart in any way. And they just write it off. He goes right on to chapter 6 when he's talking about the outside world, and he's talking about lawsuits now. It's kind of a different subject, but it's also related to in the world, out of the world, in the church, out of the church. You people who have a legal problem with someone, that's chapter 6, verse 1, you've got a thing against them. Do you think you should be taking that legal matter to a secular court? I'm talking about two brothers now. Two people who both claim that Jesus Christ is Lord of their life. Two people who both claim that the Holy Spirit's going to guide them, direct them into all truth and into all good living. That Jesus is their Lord. Those two kind of people, should they be taking, if they should have a problem between them, taking that to a court? To settle it? No, not at all, Paul says. Don't dare do that. You take your problem to the church people. First take it to the Lord. And if you can't get peace inside you, if you're not equipped yet to listen to the Lord, like you ought to, or both of them are not at least, then go before the elders of the church. Go before the elders of the church. Don't you know that someday thrones are going to be set up, not just Jesus' throne, not just God's throne, but the apostles are going to have a throne. And he gives the implication here that saints are going to judge the world. I believe perhaps our thrones won't be in Jerusalem there with the great assembly of all the greats of all time. Mine may not be there. But perhaps that part of the world that God is going to assign to me You don't want to know, what is my job going to be in the millennium? What's it going to be like when the kingdom is set up and God gives me a job to do? Maybe in that other part of the world you'll be equipped with a throne over there and be judging. Somehow though, you and I, believers who are true believers in Christ, are going to judge the world. Not in a condemning sense, but we're going to have legal status in the earth. We'll reign with kings and judges and princes with the Lord himself when he comes back, depending on what we gave to him now, what he got out of us now. If we suffer with him, we'll reign with him. So saints are going to judge the world. And if that's going to happen someday, you're going to have to be in charge of the whole world. Can't you guys take care of your own little matters that come up? Now, it's easy for us to say that they're little. but it would seem compared to losing face with the people of the world in terms of our testimony, it would seem like we ought to consider it a little matter, whatever it is that comes up. We're even going to judge angels, fallen angels. Verse 3, how much more things that pertain to this life. So, isn't there one person, verse 5, Isn't there even one person in your group that has enough wisdom to deal with this thing? Well, you got brother going to law against brother, and before the unbelievers. And what are the unbelievers thinking when you do that? They're thinking you don't have anything better than they have, so we don't need Christianity. Watch out what you do. before the world. Watch out that you participate in the things and the processes of this world too much. He says, why don't you rather accept wrong? Now the first thing is, the best thing is, take that thing before the saints. Take it before other believers. The second thing, according to Paul, is just accept the wrong. To accept the wrong would be better than to go to a secular court. Talking about two believers here, two believers. No, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. You're not going to accept the wrong. You're doing wrong yourself and you're defrauding your brothers. Listen, some of you don't get it yet. People that are unrighteous are not God's people. Don't you know they're not going to inherit the kingdom of God? Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites. Yes, there's a difference. I'm not going to be specific right now. thieves, covetous, drunkards, partiers, extortioners, those kind of people do not inherit the kingdom of God. So if you've got people like that in your number, he says, calling themselves born again, you need to set them straight. They're not even in the kingdom. And that's why you're having the problem. That's why people who are traveling with you, calling themselves Christians, are making all the mess in your church. So he gives a warning to those people that they're not even in the kingdom of God, not going to inherit it at all. Well, verse 12, something that he will say again later on, all things are lawful for me. He says it again in chapter 10, verse 23, at the end of an argument. He's going to say that here, actually the argument that that ends starts in chapter 8. But it is a theme of his, of liberty. He can do what he needs to do. But not everything that he is allowed to do ought to be done. All things are not helpful. They don't build people. And he says, even though something might be legal to me, I'm not going to be brought under the power of it. Is he still talking about suing the brothers here? Or has he gotten off into something else? Well, he will get off into something else in just a little while. But for now, it's just a general principle that, sure, I'm allowed to do certain things. I'm allowed to... I suppose I'm allowed to go to court in one sense. I could go to court legally. But that does not show love. This is what Paul is wanting to get across to these very immature believers here. That love is the most important thing to do. Sure, go on to court, but you're babies if you do that. How dare you do that? He doesn't make a law about it. He says it's lawful. But it's really, really not desirable. It's not going to help people. And then in terms of morality, there's a certain freedom perhaps. Look at this. The body is not for sexual immorality. It's for the Lord. Your body is for the Lord. And the Lord is for your body. I mean, they go together. God raised up the Lord. He's going to raise us up by His power. Don't you know your bodies are members of Jesus Christ? Shall I take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Some of you doing that? That's what he says. People actually seen harlots. Now there's people who live in sin, and there's people who fell into sin and needed to be gotten out of there and called to repentance. And when you're dealing with people in the church, you don't always know who you're dealing with, do you? Whether it's just a baby Christian who thinks everything's okay, or it's a person who never was saved at all. That's the only two categories, by the way, of people who fall into these sins. Baby Christians. Immature. Or, not saved. A person that's joined to a harlot is one body with her. Is that what you're trying to do? You want to join the Lord who is in you to a harlot? That's what you're doing. Please, please, flee it. Go, run away from it. Verse 18. The sins that you do outside the body are one thing, but this is something that is actually against your body. Every sin that a man does is outside his body in some way. But this kind of thing is against your own body. How dare you? Your personal body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Now, not like in chapter 3, where he's talking about the temple of the church. Now he's talking about your physical, personal body. God lives in it. That makes it a temple. Don't give that body to immorality. You were bought with a price. Take pride in what the Lord purchased. Not sinful pride, but respect your body. It's now the Lord's. Give it to Him. But let's talk about, he says, some of those things that you wrote to me about. You'll notice the book is divided into several different issues. It starts with the issue of division and immaturity and sexual immorality. A particular case of immorality in the church. Suing people. Now he's getting into another issue. The issue of marriage. In fact, they had written to him about this. Chapter 8 looks like maybe they had written to him about things offered to idols. You see, there had to be a correspondence between them before this book was written. In chapter 11, other issues. Chapter 12, spiritual gifts. Perhaps he had written to them about that. We're going to talk about the resurrection in this book also. Many issues that young believers want to know about. It's a good book to be taking young believers through. They're going to be amazed at some of the things that they're dealing with that this book is talking about. How about marriage here? Well, he says, let's set the record straight. Let me tell you this just like it is. It would be better, it would be better if you could stay away from a woman all together. That's a good thing, he says. And anybody who is called to that, absolutely and totally called to it, to live a holy life without marriage, that person is going to get a lot more done for the Lord, assuming all things are equal, assuming It's truly a man of God that wants to have more time for the Lord. Just being single so that you can pursue some career in a better way is not good. Being single for other immoral purposes is not good. But for a man who wants to truly serve the Lord and has the gift of continency that he will talk about here, That person really is to be favored in one sense. If you could, if you could. Because right away in verse 2 he comes to, however. And it's a very important however. It's good, if you could do it, to stay unmarried. It really is. But if you can't. If you can't, if you find yourself constantly drawn to those kinds of things. Constantly drawn to romantic love. And physical necessity demands this. You need to get a wife. You really need to start praying and looking for a wife. And God will give you one. If you wait on His choice, God will give you one. Let the husband... Now here's practical stuff. Chapter 7, verses 3 and 4 and 5. 3, 4 and 5. He says, once you are married, and this is a totally incredible thing for unmarrieds to comprehend, that you would ever get to the place where you didn't want a physical relationship. Unmarrieds who are trying to keep pure before the Lord just can't believe that you would ever get to that place where you really get tired. Not tired of it, but just tired one night. Oh my, just give me a break. Paul says, there's a rule here, that the husband is responsible to make the wife happy, and the wife is responsible for making the husband happy in this way. To fulfill the needs of each other is very important. Now there's ways to talk through this. There's ways for understanding and love to be on both sides. But he says, for the most part, there shouldn't be any deprivation, any holding back oneself from the other. Unless both have decided, We're going to fast and pray for the next couple of three days and we're not going to have anything like that, we're not going to have food, we're not going to have no fleshly things at all for the next few days." He says, that's wonderful, that would be fine, but you need to, as soon as that's over, as soon as you start eating, come back together so that Satan doesn't tempt you because of your lack of self-control. See, it's only people who have a self-control problem in this area who should be married to begin with. If you can control yourself perfectly, and it really doesn't bother you, tempt you, you don't need to be married. You don't need to be. He says, verse 7, I wish everybody was like myself, but you know, everybody has his own gift. That's what we say all the time, and Paul said it first. Everybody has his own gift. I say to the unmarried, it'd be better if you could stay like me, but if you can't, exercise self-control. You see the issue here? The issue is self-control. let them marry. Better to marry than to be always wishing you were married, always thinking about it. No, it's better to go ahead and marry. Now, he has another issue about marriage. Of course, once you get married, besides the sexual issue that we mentioned, there's the issue of divorce, verses 10 to 16. He says, you believers, you've been married, As believers, you stay together. Talking to the believer and the two believers that are together, you stay married. You don't leave. Even if she does leave, it says, she's got to stay unmarried or be reconciled. Now, there are things that come up, and we're not talking about incompatibility. That thing just has to go. We're talking about other issues that could come up, and I don't want to go Delving into that sort of thing because I'm not a marriage counselor here, but there are issues physical issues Other issues every once in a while that might demand a separation But if that separation is to occur There can be no no marriage, that's it you two are unmarried the rest of your lives and If they're going to come back together, they're coming back with each other. If there's going to be reconciliations, not with somebody else. You come back together. Or stay separate. And so also for the husband. Works both ways in this case. And in every case. But he says, now verse 12, this is my opinion as one who has received wisdom from the Lord. And I have. He makes a big deal about this in other issues. I have the Spirit of God. and God talks to me, and here's the wisdom that I have, and if it's Holy Spirit-inspired wisdom from an apostle of Christ, it doesn't matter to me that he says to the rest, I, not the Lord, say. In other words, there's no commandment about this, but I think his wisdom can be trusted, don't you? That is, if a brother is married to an unbeliever, in other words, they both were unbelievers, but one gets saved. And the believer is not to put any pressure on her. Let's say it's a believing husband, unbelieving wife. The believing husband is not to put some pressure on her and say, you know, we're going to do things differently around here and try to encourage her to go. Oh, no. He's to live his life. Or the other way around, she's to live her life in Christ. And if the unbelieving partner says, boy, this is really great. I really like the way he's changed. He loves me more. And if there's no conflict there, it can happen for a while. No divorce is allowed. Believers, no divorce is allowed. Now, the unbeliever is not under your law. That is, the law of divorce and all that, because they're not under the Lord. And the unbeliever might not see it this way eventually, might not really want to stick around for all these religious things, and might split, might go. If the unbeliever goes at that point, the believer is free. Free to do what? Well, let's see what it says. If the unbeliever departs, verse 15, let him depart. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases. Now, let him depart. Obviously, if somebody's going to leave, they're going to leave. And so they're not saying, you know, unlock the door. They're saying you're free now. Free in what sense? Free to stay single the rest of your life? That's an option, of course, but I don't think the apostle would put it quite that way. This unbeliever is still alive in the world somewhere, but not interested in you anymore. And you're free. That's what it says. You're not under bondage. At that point, you have the same privilege as the person whose husband or wife dies. And that privilege is to marry again. That's what it says. There are two reasons three reasons given in scripture for a person remarrying. One is when one partner falls into sin and reestablishes a sexual physical relationship with another person and therefore breaks and kills the original bond. Or when one partner dies or in this case when an unbeliever departs called the Pauline Privilege. Most churches do recognize that. But he encourages them to try to hang on to that unbeliever, and to live the Christian life before them, thinking, maybe my spouse will be saved. You pray, you pray, but you don't think about my new life, my new wife somewhere else. You don't start fantasizing about that. You start thinking, wouldn't it be wonderful if my spouse would come to Christ also. And he'd make that the subject of heartfelt, earnest prayer. God has done that. Many, many times. Well, he makes a point here of saying that a person should live as they were called. When you come into Christ, you're kind of frozen in time. At that point, Christ is your vocation. Christ is your partner. Christ is your life. And everything you do is in Him. And you don't have to go changing everything. just because you became a Christian. Now hear me well, I mean, your vocation, unless it was an evil vocation, and it's obviously bad reputation, you don't have to change that. You're not supposed to, really. You don't change partners, for sure, and you don't go get a wife or drop a wife because you got saved. Try to stay right where you are. Circumcision? No. You don't go get circumcised to become a Christian. Obviously, he's settle that elsewhere. Stay in basically the same calling. You don't have to move to the suburbs or move to the ghetto. Stay where you are. That's when you're in Christ. You don't have to be trying to prove something. Christ will find a way to do what he wants to do through you right where you are. If he says to go in his own way, then you go. But basically, going and changing is not a prerequisite of becoming a Christian is what he's saying. Were you a slave? Don't worry about it, he says. A servant, we're talking about an employee. If you could be made free, that would be great. I pray about it all the time. I'd like to just be free of my job. And if God sends millions of dollars into my life, then I will go. If he finds a way to set me free from this job, I'm out of there. I'm not there for any other reason. I'll be serving the Lord. I have no career desires. very seldom did through the years, just wanted to make enough money to live so that I could, on the side, we say, preach the gospel, teach, minister in some way the word of God, as I still do. But, you know, if you are set free, that's great too. He who is called in the Lord while he's an employee, a servant, is the Lord's free person. I'm free. And the person who's free is really Christ's slave anyway. So there's a balance in the body that way. You were bought with a price. Don't become slaves of men, whatever you do. Don't change. Let your heart be changed, but your circumstances don't have to. Stay with God, verse 24, in the calling in which you were called. That goes for spiritual calling too. If God called you to be a teacher right from the beginning 20, 30 years ago, don't think that he changed his mind because maybe you're not as successful as you think you ought to be. If you're sure it was God, you continue on in it, and pray, and pray, and pray, and God's special blessing will come upon you, and you'll start speaking with more power, you'll see people saved, God will move. Now he talks about another issue, and that is young ladies, and I'm assuming this has to do with the custom of the time of the parents finding husbands for their young ladies. That's what it seems to be talking about. He says, I don't have a commandment from the Lord about this, but again, here's my judgment. And my judgment has to do with the present circumstances. The present circumstances had to do with persecution. It was everywhere. People of God were being tortured and murdered in the Roman Empire. And Paul says, you know, Of course, your daughter is going to go marry a believer. We assumed that. If they married an unbeliever, there wouldn't be an issue here. They wouldn't have to worry about the cross, the persecution. But if you're going to marry a believer, that new couple is going to have all kinds of problems. Why? Because there's going to be people looking for them. There's going to be persecution. They're going to be separated, perhaps. Even before they get a chance to get really into their marriage. He says, it's okay to marry. You haven't sinned. But you're going to have trouble in the flesh, verse 28. That's what he's talking, I believe, about. He says, the time is short. Back in those days, and we should have it today too, there was a sense. We're in the end. We're in the end. It won't be very long before Christ comes. They believed it then. We believe it now. And so we can say this as though it were true today. Time is short. Even those who have wives should be as they have none. He's talking about the people who are already married. In other words, you fathers, you're thinking about your virgin daughter and you need to just consider all this through Christ's eyes. But he says even the ones who already have a wife need to be looking at things through Christ's eyes because even though we're to please our spouses, Christ is our life now and should be our spouse's life too. He says, I want you to be without care. I want your daughters to be without care. You see, a person that gets married is going to have to consider the things of the world, but if she would stay single, she could give her heart totally to the Lord, to prayer, and these things. Verse 35, I'm only saying this for your profit. I'm not trying to put some kind of a leash on you, so that you can't do anything. I'm not trying to give you rules, I'm trying to give you wisdom here. So, he who stands steadfast in his heart, verse 37, having no necessity, you don't have to do this, you have power over your own will, and so determined in his heart, If he'll keep his virgin daughter, that's good. But if he gives her in marriage, that's good. If he doesn't give her, that would be even better. And then verse 39, he goes back to the keeping your marriage vow. A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives. Now, if her husband dies, this is another issue, there's actually a death. It's just automatic freedom. I've been surprised to hear of churches who won't even let their people marry even after death. And what is the point there? Unless they're very old and don't need to get married. But why discourage someone who's lost a partner through death? Anyway. But even she, verse 40, is happier if she remains as she is according to my judgment. And he says, I think I also have the Spirit of God. I like the way he says that. I think we would say it the same way today. Not sarcasm, but a little bit of cynicism here. because people were always attacking this man. He said, I know some of you don't think I have the Spirit of God, but I think I do. I think I've given you the right word here. Now another issue, but before we get to that issue, we better cover some questions here before we go hopelessly behind. Why are our conclusions about others usually faulty? Well, there's much hidden information in a person's heart. Number 14, why is it foolish to lift up one like Paul or Apollos? Well, all we have is a gift. And the leaders are the off-scouring, the off-scraping of a dirty skill is what it means. 15. Though he didn't want to be idolized, what did Paul desire? He wanted to be imitated. Inasmuch as Christ was in him, he wanted that Christ in him to be imitated. Number 16. What was Timothy's job to be Well, he was to remind them of Paul's life. Number 17, what is Paul's solution for immoral church members? Deliver them to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit will be saved later. Number 18, with whom should we not fellowship? Brothers in sexual or other misconduct. 19, what follows from the fact that Christians will one day judge the world? Well, you can handle the little things now without outside help. Number 20. Give several reasons for keeping one's body from sexual immorality. Well, that's not helpful. Brings you under bondage. Makes Christ partake in your sin. It sins against your body, and your body is God's temple. Isn't that enough? 21. What is one good reason for marriage? Sexual immorality in the world. 22. What is the only revealed reason for marriage partners to refrain from being together? That is, with consent. to fast and pray. 23. Is the single life good? Is it acceptable? Well, yes. When did Paul permit divorce? Unbelieving spouses leaving. Number 25. What is Paul's career advice? Stay where you are. As slaves, if you can be free, try to be. Alright, let's go to chapter 8. Now, 8, 9, and 10 are really one issue. It has to do with the issue of conscience, and the issue of knowledge, and the issue of love especially, loving my brothers even though I have rights. Even though I think I know enough about something to know it's okay for me. Just stepping back from that a little bit and seeing the love of God in the situation and obeying the love of God. This issue had to do with eating meat that was sacrificed unto idols. which the pagans did. They sacrificed meat to idols and that meat was not thrown away. They'd take that same meat, put it in the meat market and sell it. And a person might or might not know. He could ask, was this offered to an idol? And if he was told yes, he might not want it. If he was told no, then of course he was free to eat it. But he's saying that some of you are puffed up with your knowledge about this. You know something. And because you know something, you think you ought to be free to do something out of your knowledge, but there is a factor you're leaving out, and that's God's love. Concerning the eating of things offered are out of, we know, verse 4, an idol is nothing. Okay, that's knowledge. An idol is nothing. We know there's no other God but One. And so we know that if somebody offers something to this idolist, even though he's not bringing out this other point here about demons, we'll get to that later. It's just a statue, you say. I know that statue is nothing. I know there's no other true God. And so I don't care that that meat went to them. That's ridiculous. You know, that's how they would be. They're very proud about this, very arrogant about it. He says, wait a minute, not everybody knows that. These young believers, they don't understand some stuff yet. They've had Christ come into their life, and they've maybe put Him as number one, but have they really understood all about demonology and all about idolatry? Are they perfect in that yet? Verse 7, there is not in everyone that knowledge. Some, thinking about the idol, still eat it as a thing offered to an idol. And if you're sitting there just eating it, they're thinking that you're doing that to an idol. Also, they think that you're thinking what they're thinking. And so you're free to eat, so they're free to eat. But their conscience is bothered about it. But they're going against their conscience because they see you. Now, we're not talking about food here, verse 8. It's not about whether you eat or don't eat. It's not a rule I'm making up here. Talking about your liberty versus your love. When your liberty causes you to do something unloving, you need to stop your liberty. Take freedom from yourself. Don't sin against the brothers this way. Don't wound their conscience. To do that is to sin against Christ. And he makes a real clear statement in verse 13. If food, food offered to idols, this particular meal would make my brother stumble, I just won't eat food again, this meat, lest I make my brother stumble. Anything that would cause my brother to stumble, I'll never do it the rest of my life. Now, I think it's fairly easy for some of us to see an application. I'm not going to give you one. I think you can see it right away in our day that there are things you are doing that perhaps you feel, because of your knowledge about the thing, that it's really no big deal. But you also know that there are brothers in Christ. When they see you do that, well, you won't even do it in front of them. You're scared to even Do these things around young believers, because you know it could offend them. But why not just stay away from it altogether, in case they happen to find out you're doing this. Paul says, look at this. And chapter 9 shouldn't have a division, nor should chapter 10. It's all one long discussion. Brothers, I'm an apostle. I'm free. I've seen Jesus Christ. If I'm not an apostle, to others. I surely am to you. Right? You all believe me? You're the seal of my apostleship and he goes on to talk about his rights. I've got all kinds of rights. I could marry a wife if I wanted to. I could work for a living or stop working for a living. I should be able to take up offers. I have some rights. Why should I be paying for my own expenses anyway? I could do this. Even the scripture says I can do this in verse 9. Don't muzzle an ox. Is God talking about oxen? No. He's talking about us. He who plows a field should be able to eat some of the stuff that's being planted there. And I should be able to partake of your material things. It's no big deal. But we don't use this right. Get the principle? I've got rights, but I don't use the rights. Don't you know that the people who Even the Jewish people, the priests, seeing the sacrifices offered all the time, they eat that meat also. They partake of it. I could do that, but I don't. You hear what I'm saying, church? I said, I don't do this. Hey, the Lord has commanded even that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. There's nothing wrong with it, but I'm not doing it. Get it? He says, I would rather die than then take a penny for my work. You know why? If I preach the gospel, verse 16, I've got nothing to boast about. It's true. I'm doing this because I've got to do it. In fact, woe is me if I don't do it. If I do this thing willingly, like, hey, I think I'll preach the gospel. I think that's an interesting career. I think I'll be a minister. Wow, God needs ministers. That's my will saying that. If I do that, then I deserve some kind of reward. But if against my will, if I'm preaching the gospel because God said you preach or you die, that means I've been given a stewardship. God's trusting me. And for me to take money after God is trusting me to do this job for Him and not for pennies. Oh, my reward is that when I preach it, I'll be able to present it, present the Gospel without charge and receive from God His blessing. I'll get blessed. I'm not going to abuse my authority. So, you see what I'm saying, verse 19? I'm free! But I make myself a servant. I became, through the Jews, a Jew. To those who are outside the law, I became like a gentile. If there's a weak person, I become a weak person. If I'm strong, you know, I just become all things to all men. Do you see the principle? But that whole thing goes all the way back to chapter 8. He hasn't changed the subject yet. I want to save people. I'm interested in saving souls, so I love them. I give to them. I don't demand my rights around them for the gospel sake. Listen, we're in a race, guys, verse 24. We're all running, but only one's going to get the prize. Let's all compete like that. Like this whole thing was, and he's just going, I realize he's going from one to another, but he isn't really changing the subject. He's still talking about love. That love is the most important thing, and when we love, we're winning the race. And love even demands what? That we discipline ourselves as an athlete would. I don't fight with uncertainty, not as one who beats the air like a boxer. I'm disciplining my body though. I want my body to do what I tell it to do. Sure, I got rights to sit around and just laze. I can lay around every night if I want to. I don't have to discipline myself if I don't want to. There's no law that says I have to do that. But I'm doing it. I'm taking rights away from myself daily. I'm beating my body. Bring it in under subjection. Because I don't want to be disqualified in this race. And brothers, even more than it goes right into chapter 10. I want you to look, he says, back into the Old Testament. All these folks that were baptized in Nazca. We had a little church in the wilderness. They were technically baptized into Moses, right? In the cloud, when they went through the cloud. When they went through the sea, there was like a baptism there. And they had communion like we do. They ate that food, the spiritual food. And they drank of the rock. You know, when the water came out of the rock, that was like they were taking from Christ. And Christ was giving all those things back there. But God wasn't pleased with them. I want you to look, guys, at what we're doing here. If you're going to be just living for yourself all the time and demanding all your rules, all your rights, that is, you're not living according to what God wants. You're not going to be totally pleasing to God. All this stuff that's in the Old Testament was an example for us, verse 6. We shouldn't want the same stuff they wanted, and not become idolaters, lifting our own self up even as an idol. And the sexual immorality he brings in here, and he ties this all together in verse 8. You know what happened to them? 23,000 people died in one day because of sexual immorality. And we shouldn't be tempting Christ like they did, for murmuring, I want my rights, I want my rights. You know, that's what it's all about. My rights. They thought they deserved all this stuff that God wanted to give them freely. All this was an example. So, let him who thinks he stands be careful lest he fall. You start demanding your own rights, you're going to get lifted up with pride. Knowledge is a part of that. Now, no temptation, verse 13, is taken except what is common to men. God's not going to allow you to be tempted above what you're able. I don't want to scare you here. Everything that comes into your life now as a test is just common stuff. Everybody has to go through this. But you can overcome. Because God always gives you the way out. You don't have to sin. So brothers, getting back to the point here. He finally does get back to what we were talking about. in verse 14, from chapter 8 all the way to 10, 14, all one subject. Brothers, stay away from idolatry. But first he talks about the communion thing a little bit, this thing that we bless, the cup. Isn't that participating in the body of Christ? He doesn't say it is the body of Christ or the blood of Christ. The bread which we break, isn't it a participation? It's in other words, just like these guys over here, the people who offer gentile sacrifices. When they offer, they're offering their sacrifices to an idol, but behind that idol is a demon spirit, not another god, like they think, but a demon spirit. And when they bow down before that idol, they're actually in touch with demons. There is a reality to pagan worship, not like they think, but yes, it's real. He's saying, when we see the bread and we see the cup, we're worshipping the Lord because of that. We're participating also. And I don't want you to be connected to idols in any way. That's a part of the knowledge about this whole thing, that you weren't thinking about. Sure, it's just a statue. Sure, there is no other God, but what about this piece of knowledge? Behind that idol is a demon. Had you thought about that? You can't drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You need to stay away from things offered to idols. You stay in here. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Don't do that. Don't get involved with the things of demons in any way. Are we stronger than he? That means if we do provoke him, what are you going to do when he finally gets angry with you? So he goes back to his original premise, verse 23. Everything's lawful to me. But not everything builds up the body. So quit seeking your own thing and seek somebody else's for once. Verse 25. You go to a market. Okay. Take that meat. Sure. Eat it. Don't ask any questions about it, because the earth is the Lord's. It's all His. And if anybody invites you to go to dinner, but they're not believers, and you want to go, Eat what's set before you. Don't ask any questions. But if anybody says to you, hey, this was offered to idols, then you've got to stop. And you've got to say, well, I can't eat that then. Even though you're not convinced about this, don't eat it. For the person's sake that Christ died, this person that could come to Christ, sitting right next to you, don't eat it. Conscience. Not your conscience. Yours is clean. But for his conscience. Love that person. Whatever you do, verse 31, do it for God's glory. Quit thinking about your rights, what you deserve. Quit offending people. I please everybody in this way. I want you to imitate me as I imitate Christ, just like he said once before. It was at the end of what chapter? I'm back here digging for it now. Can't seem to find it. Is it the end of chapter 4, 5? No. Well, we'll let it go then, but imitate me as I imitate Christ. That's actually 11.1, but it should be a part of Chapter 10's issue. We're going to do some questions, and then we'll be gone. Number 26, where does my liberty have to end? Love. Love for others. Number 27, what rights do all God's leaders have? To eat, to marry, to refrain from working? Number 28, Paul not claimed these rights. He wants to give the gospel without charge. He can win more if he becomes as they are. Number 29, why such extreme discipline? Because of an imperishable crown that's coming. Number 30, list the things done by the Israelites that we must avoid. Well, idolatry, immorality, tempting Christ, murmuring. In pagan worship, is the idol anything? No. But what's behind the idol? A demon. 32. In the Lord's Supper, are the emblems anything that we use? No. But what's behind the bread and the wine? Christ. Christ, He's there, present, just as He always is when we worship Him and meet in His name. He's there. 33. If I am free, why should I worry about my activities at all? Because we're not living to please ourselves. but we're worried about the conscience of someone else. That's called love. Well, as you're looking at that sheet of paper, we still have that other whole column to do. Lord willing, we'll do it next time as we finish up, I think, 1 Corinthians next time around. God bless you today and may these words of Christ through Paul strengthen you, fortify you, make you ready for the task that's ahead of you. Amen.