Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with hymn number 70 in your hardback timbrel.
Number 70. Everybody's quiet and in place
early this morning. Let's all stand together. Hymn
number 70. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. Early in the morning our song
shall rise to Thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and
mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Holy, holy, holy, all the saints
adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy
sea. Cherubim and seraphim falling
down before thee, which wert and art and evermore shall be. Holy, holy, holy, though the
darkness hide thee, though the eye of sinful man thy glory may
not see. Only Thou art holy, there is
none beside Thee, perfect in power, in love and purity. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty
All thy works shall praise thy name In earth and sky and sea
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons,
blessed Trinity. Please be seated. Good morning. We're going to
continue our study in 1 Corinthians this morning. If you'd like to
turn with me to chapter 8. 1 Corinthians chapter 8. And I've titled this This passage,
love edifies. Love builds up. And that's so
what we want to experience in our relationship with Christ.
We want Him to build us up by His love and that we would have
that same relationship one with the other. couple of announcements jerry
good to have you back uh... welcome our brethren i
know the ones in the iowa were watching this morning uh... talk
to joe terrell uh... you'd last night yesterday uh...
they were expecting twenty five degrees below zero this morning
and we're gonna have to cancel services so uh... it's gonna
be eighty six here today uh... And I think this storm is coming
through Virginia. I mean, Tennessee and Kentucky.
I don't know how many other churches are needing to cancel their services
this morning, but sure is beautiful here, isn't it? Also, in just
a few weeks, the 13th, 14th, and 15th of January, we'll be
having our annual conference. The details are listed in your
bulletin, so please take notice of the times of the services
and the events. Saul, Todd, and Chris this past
weekend in Kentucky, and they covet your prayers and are excited
about coming and being here with us. So remember to pray for those
two men as the Lord leads them to have the messages that we
need to hear. Also, I want to thank Michael and Robert for
doing such a wonderful job last Sunday preaching in my absence. The meeting in Kentucky was very
good, very encouraged. Your brethren up there, send
their love. Alright, you have your Bibles
open to 1st Corinthians. Chapter. 8. Let's pray together. Our merciful
Heavenly Father, we're so. Conscious of how dependent we
are upon you to bless us. As we open your word. How? We hope that your Holy Spirit
would open our hearts. And we know, Lord, that what
you open, no man can shut. And so, Lord, we pray that you
would give us eyes to see and hearts to believe. We pray that
you would reveal the glory of thy dear son to us, cause us
to find our hope and all our salvation in him. We thank you
for our brethren that are in other parts of the country and
the world and everywhere your gospel is being preached. We
ask your blessings on it. We pray it in Christ's name,
Amen. Now as we've seen in our study
of the letters to the church at Corinth, Paul is answering
questions that they wrote him about. And one of the questions
has to do with meat that had been offered to an idol. whether or not it was okay to
eat it. And so that's the question that
he's addressing now in chapter 8. The principle of this question
is summarized in verse 1, where he says, Now as touching things
offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge, knowledge
puffs up, but love edifies. Now many of us have been delivered
from the curse of idolatry and in fact there's no difference
between the idolatry that we came out of and the idolatry
that these Corinthian believers were delivered from. We might
refer to their idolatry as being pagan. So was mine. uh... no difference the word idle means
an image and in fact the closer the image is to the real thing
the more deceiving it is and many of us worshipped a false
god worshipped an image that was very close to the true God. We robbed him of his name and
attached his name to our false God. And so I don't want us to
be thinking about these people who lived in a pagan culture,
who were worshiping a pagan God, who were dealing with this issue
of meat and whether or not it's true. The principle applies to
every one of us. The Lord has delivered us from
idolatry, and in coming out of idolatry, we all bring with us
some baggage. You remember when the Lord raised
Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11, and after He raised
him from the dead, He said to his friends, He said, Loose him
and let him free. He was a mummy. he came out of
the tomb completely wrapped up in grave clothes and uh... that's often the case with us
the lord raises us from the dead and gives us life and we spend
the rest of our lives being unwrapped of our grave clothes and uh... the one that the thing that that
that the lord's pointing out here is that that we don't point
our finger at our brother's grave clothes and criticize him for
it or stand in judgment of him. We're to be very careful in edifying
our brothers even though their knowledge may not be clear. uh... one of the one of the clear
principles in this chapter has to do with the conscience and
although our conscience is not infallible uh... it is the first line of defense
when it comes to identifying what's right and what's wrong
and so one of the things the lord teaches us in this chapter
is don't violate your conscience uh... if romans chapter fourteen
makes that clear uh... Matter of fact, Romans chapter
14, we'll look at it in just a moment, is almost identical
to 1 Corinthians chapter 8 in dealing with this issue. But
he tells us in Romans chapter 14 that if you think it's wrong
and you do it, even if it's not wrong, then it's sin. Whatever is not of faith is sin. And so we're encouraged not to
violate our own conscience and not to encourage our brethren
to violate their conscience. Perhaps a weaker brother would
have a more tender conscience towards something that's amoral. uh... uh... never is there a
time this time of year that i don't have somebody interrogate me
about whether or not we worship uh... whether that we observe
christmas holidays uh... that's a perfect example uh... they've they've heard some things
about the gospel uh... perhaps the lord has converted
them and uh... and they're carrying with them
this baggage from their old religion and thinking well you know we
don't want to have anything to do with that uh... and uh... you know so we don't you know
we don't force that on on anyone it's uh... but let let's deal
with the chapter and then we'll we'll see uh... i would write
also remind you in a in introducing this chapter that paul that john
summarizes everything that he says in first john chapter five
he says little children yourself idols keep yourself from idols
we worship the one uh... true god And might the Lord be
pleased to deliver us from all forms of idolatry. We know that we all have knowledge. What knowledge does every believer
have? We have a knowledge of ourselves.
every child of god knows that they have in and of themselves
no righteousness they know that everything about them is simple
uh... they know that senate goes much
deeper than just our behavior that that sin is what we are
and that uh... that we have nothing not to bring
before the throne of grace to uh... to satisfy the demands
of god's holy law or of his justice we know that about ourselves
uh... every child of god has this knowledge
every area if they if you don't have that knowledge then i would
just say that that you've not seen christ uh... because this
is the evidence of having seen him uh... you you know that he
is the only one who's holy, undefiled, sinless, and separate from sinners. He's the only one that God ever
spoke about in saying, this is my beloved son. In him, I am
well pleased. Paul said, when the law came,
sin revived and I died. That doesn't mean that we preach
the law in order to make men sinners. It means that when I
saw Christ having fulfilled the law, I saw myself for what I
was. It's always the case, isn't it?
It happened with Isaiah when Isaiah saw the Lord high and
lifted up and his train filled the temples and the seraphim
hovered over the throne of God and cried, Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord God of hosts. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord.
And what's the first thing out of his mouth? Woe is me for I
am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. I
live among a people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the king,
and if he exercises his justice against me, I'm going to die. That's what Isaiah saw. And it's
always the case, isn't it? Peter said the same thing. Depart
from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. When Job finally saw Christ,
He concluded the whole thing by saying that I had heard of
thee by the hearing of mine ear. I knew some things about you,
but now mine eyes have seen thee. And what? And I repent in dust
and ashes. Behold, I am vile. It's always the case. This is
the knowledge that every child of God has. We've been made to be sinners,
completely dependent upon the sinless Son of God to present
Himself on our behalf before God for all our righteousness.
We have a knowledge of who Christ is. He's the successful Savior. who came and satisfied all the
demands of God's holy law. Apart from that knowledge, there's
no salvation. And they go hand-in-hand, don't
they? As far as the successful, redemptive,
atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ and our sinfulness, that's
the knowledge. He starts out by saying, now
as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have
knowledge. We all have knowledge. But knowledge
without love? Turn over with me just a couple
pages to chapter 13, 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Look at verse 2, and though I
have the gift of prophecy, oh, I understand scripture, and knowledge,
Knowledge of all, and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains
and have not charity, that's love, I am nothing. Knowledge puffs up. We don't rely upon our knowledge. to get an advantage over our
brother or to take advantage of our brother in any way. We
have some knowledge of some things. We know that we're a sinner,
but we don't really understand anything that we have knowledge
of, do we? We don't. We know that Christ
is the sinless Savior and successful in what He came to do, that He's
the Christ, but what do we know about Him? What do we really
know about Him? Paul at the very end of his life
said, Oh, that I might know Him. That's my, I've not yet apprehended
that which has apprehended me, but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, I press towards the mark. I just
want to know Him more, more about Christ. And when we see Him in
all the splendor of His glory, we're going to see how little
we really do know about Him. Now, let me make this clear. That doesn't mean that what we
know about Him is fallible. It just means that it's incomplete.
People say, well, you know, your knowledge might not be true.
No, if what I know has been taught to me by God, then I have knowledge. it's just very little if if if
i know that i'm a center because god's made me to be a center
then there's no negotiating that it's just that the full the full
ramifications of sin is beyond my comprehension i can't i can't
begin to comprehend how evil my sin is that's what the lord
jesus christ came to do uh... by his knowledge my righteous
servant shall justify many isaiah chapter fifty three what did
he have a knowledge of he had a knowledge of sin you and i
can't begin to comprehend the evil of sin uh... we it's just
is this beyond our reach uh... we're so accustomed to it and
yet we know that that's all we are and uh... we mourn after
him what did zacharias say when the spirit of grace and supplication
is poured out on the house of david and on the hat on the inhabitants
of jerusalem they will mourn after him whom they have pierced
as one mourn if after his only and so that's all we that we
know that whatever sin is before god That's all I am. And what it took God to put it
away was the sacrifice of his own son. And God made him sin
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. This is the knowledge that every child of God has.
We have a knowledge of what we are, we have a knowledge of who
He is, what He accomplished, and how it is that God saves
sinners. He saves sinners through the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, not through our righteousness,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by His
mercy. By the washing of the regeneration
of the Holy Spirit, it's the only means by which the Lord
saves sinners. We know that He uses His Word
to accomplish that end of His own will, of God's own will. God saves who He wants, when
He wants, how He wants. We always use the means of His
Word. Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. So we're completely dependent
upon the preaching of the gospel in order for us to know Christ,
in order for the Lord to save us. And this is the knowledge
that we all have. Now that having been said, look
at verse two. And if any man think that he
knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. You know, our knowledge is so
incomplete. There's so much more to it than
we can possibly begin to comprehend in this life. And, you know,
standing in the presence of His splendor and of His glory for
all eternity we're going to be uh... enamored with with with
with his glory i mean i don't even know how to phrase that
uh... so how can we possibly how can
we possibly know it here what what he's saying here don't use
the knowledge that you have to intimidate uh... your brother uh... or to to to pass judgment upon
him uh... me give you an example. Somebody,
I mentioned Christmas, somebody comes into our fellowship and
you know maybe they're wearing a cross or maybe they make some
comment about things that we know or about a preacher that
they've been listening to or somebody that we know. If they're
not asking questions I mean, if somebody asks you a question,
is this okay, or is this something I should be doing, then obviously
you answer that question with truth. But if they're not asking
questions, don't offer advice or criticism. You know, that
may be a child of God. And just, you know, the Lord
will correct them as they have an opportunity to sit. I've seen
it happen over the years. Somebody will come in and they'll
say something about some preacher and some believer who knows that
preacher to be a false preacher. will just pipe up and say well
that's a false preacher boasting in their knowledge uh... to the
detriment of that of that man who who doesn't know uh... it does that make sense so just acknowledge the lack
of of knowledge that you have uh... verse two verse three if
any man loved god the same is known of God. John deals with this, doesn't
he? He says, if you love God, you're going to love your brother.
And love edifies. Love builds up. Love suffers
long. We're going to deal with that
when we get to chapter 13. But some of us have come out
of a religious experience of idolatry whereby we prided ourselves
in debating with our peers over doctrine. And it was all about
seeing who could get an advantage over someone else on what you
knew. And that's exactly what this
whole chapter is about. Don't do it. don't do that rejoicing
Christ be patient with your brother I'm don't don't try to impress
or intimidate one another with your knowledge if you did important
thing is that you love Christ and I am and and that he knows
you look look what he says burst but if any man love God the same
is no no of him What's the hope that I'm known
of God? He's given me a love for Christ. Love for his gospel. Love for his people. Turn with
me over to 1 John. Chapter. Chapter 5. chapter chapter 4 beginning verse
7 says beloved let us love one another for love is of God love is of
God you see what we read in 1st Corinthians chapter 13 verse
3 if you have knowledge without love it profits you nothing can
you be can you have doctrinal knowledge without the love of
Christ Yes. Yes. If you have the love of
Christ, you're going to understand some doctrine too. It says, love
is of God. And everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth God, he that loveth
not, knoweth not God, for God is love. I hope the Lord will increase our love, increase our
love for Christ, increase our understanding of His love for
us, increase our love for one another. Because I'm here to
tell you that one of the things that will hinder a fellowship
is when this spirit of grace and the spirit of love is not
being demonstrated uh... between its brethren and there's
a spirit of competition and resentment and uh... and i'm not suggesting
that i i i'm so thankful for you i don't think we have But
it's in every one of us, isn't it? And so the Lord will restrain
that by His Word. Look what He says in verse 20
of that same chapter. If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we
from him, that he who loveth God loveth his brother also. All right, let's go back to chapter
8. Verse 5, For though there be
that are called gods, whether in heaven or earth, as there
be gods many and lords many, but to us there is but one God.
We have one God. All these other gods, according
to the world, are false gods. All these other Jesuses are false
Jesuses. All these other idols are just
that. They are fake images. They are figments of men's imagination. They don't exist. They don't
exist. There's but one God. I'm sorry, we missed verse 4,
didn't we? Verse 4, "...as concerning, therefore, the eating of those
things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol
is nothing in the world, and there is no God but our God."
There's one God. Idol's nothing. For though there
be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, and there
be gods many and lords many, but to us there is but one God,
the Father. I see that little preposition
of. it's better translated for sometimes the prepositions in
the original language are hard to figure out but this is the
word for perhaps in the in the spanish translation it is for
uh... see ricardo rate shaking his
head back there sometimes the spanish translation gets it better
than the english does but uh... what he's saying is that the
one god who is our father uh... everything ultimately is for
his glory we're for him the gospel is for him the world is for him
everything is for him that's the that's the that's the end
result of all things but to us there's but one god
the father of whom are all things I'm sorry, the Father for whom
are all things and we in Him and one Lord, I'm sorry, it's
the word in that's supposed to be for, forgive me. Let me read this again. But to
us, there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things
and we for Him. and one lord jesus christ by
whom are all things and we by him okay so what the lord saying
is that we have been created for god what is the chief end
of man to glorify god and enjoy him forever that's our whole
purpose men are trying to figure out what their purpose in life
is that's why god made you were for him And the only way that
we're going to be able to do that is if we be by Jesus Christ. The only way we can be in the
presence of God is to have our acceptance in Christ. And so
he's saying, this is just a gospel statement, isn't it? We're all
for Him and we're all by Christ. How be it? there is not in every
man that knowledge now you say in that book for that you know
the new believer perhaps he's bringing some great close and
perhaps he's perhaps he's got an over sensitive conscience
about something that that he was forbidden to do under the
law and uh... and we don't want to you know
we don't want to wound the conscience of that week brother and soul
we don't use our knowledge to judge him or intimidate him. For some with conscience of the
idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto idols and
their conscience being weak is defiled. Turn over with me to
Matthew, Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. This is the verse I tried to
quote earlier. Romans chapter 14 is almost identical. If you want, just read the whole
chapter and it'll give a lot of light on what we're looking
at right now. Verse 14, I know and I'm persuaded
by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself,
but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. So, if a weaker brother who still
has a tender conscience about something that he was forbidden
to do in a legalistic religion. goes ahead and does that and
violates his conscience to him. He's wounding his conscience,
which is the first line of defense that the Lord uses to alert us
to right and wrong. And so the one thing we don't
want to do is wound our brother's conscience. We just have to be
careful. Love edifies. Now, let me speak to the other
side of that because I've seen this happen more often than what
I just described. I've seen God save children from
idolatry, legalistic idolatry, and they immediately discovered
that a lot of the things that they were told they could not
do when they were under the law, they now realize it's okay to
do, and they do them to the excess. Be careful. Be careful. Does everybody understand what
I'm talking about? That's not a good thing either. Okay? Verse 8. Now I'll just read the
rest of these verses. But meat commendeth us not to
God, for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we
eat not are we the worse. What commendeth us to God? It's not what we do or don't
do that commends us to God. If we're going to be commended
to God, Christ is going to have to do that. So what we do or
don't do has nothing to do with our recommendation to God. That's
a work that Christ does all by himself. But take heed, lest by any means
this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that
are weak. For if any man see thee, which
hath knowledge, sit at meat in an idol's temple, shall not the
conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things
which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge shall
thy weak brother perish of whom Christ died?" Now he doesn't
mean perish in terms of going to hell, that's not possible.
If Christ died for him, he's secure for eternity. But it means
perish in his conscience, in his assurance, in his comfort,
in his grace. You're going to set him back. But when you sin so against the
brother and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Don't forget, child of God, that
your brethren that crisis in them they're the temple of the
Holy Spirit what did the Lord say to Saul, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? who art thou Lord? I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest the Lord's people are his and
that we need to be looking at one another as the children of
God don't we Wherefore, if meat make my brother
to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest
I make my brother to offend. All right, let's take a break.