You Can, But Should You? | February 25, 2026

Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.

The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist

Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us

or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look

us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this

message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.

When you turn to Bibles of First Corinthians chapter #8 as you

remember, we've been in our series living for God in an

ungodly world, and we've been starting to go into a little bit

more of a speedier pace as we picked up into Chapter 7,

chapter 8. We will continue this way to

chapter 910, eleven, and then finally slow down in chapter 12

and chapter 13 and onward from there.

And the reason why is because as we look at these chapters, each

of them deal with one specific issue, 1 specific thought.

And I could say that's about other chapters as well.

Chapter 5 particularly comes to mind with Church discipline.

But I do feel like these chapters really lend themselves

well to us being able to take them all together, particularly

this evening's chapter as we consider this issue that

remember at the beginning of Chapter 7, Paul says, you've

written to me about some issues. Now I'm going to address these

issues with you now. And we're going to look at

another one of those issues this evening.

And it really comes down to the possibility of the abuse of the

Christian liberty that the people of Corinth had for one

another. And the title, the message this

evening is this. You can, but should you?

You can, but should you? There's a lot of things in life

that you can do, but the question is just because you can

do it, you know, should you do it like that third cup of coffee

that you had today? You know you can do it, but

really, should you do it? This is why I switched to decaf

not that long ago because it was a bad move to drink as much

caffeine as I have, although I take this sip and again, this is

decaf, so it's all good. You know, you can carry all the

groceries in one go, you know, with by the handles.

But is it a good idea, especially when you drop the

eggs or who knows what milk, eggs and bread and such as you

could say, and keep opening the door, the oven, you know, just

to see if everything's baking inside.

But is that a good idea? Who knows?

Probably not. You stay up till 2:00 AM

watching TV, watching a West Coast Red Sox game because they

started late in Anaheim or in Seattle, working late on a

project, but just because he can.

Is it a good idea? Life is filled with these kinds

of decisions where I can do it, but ought I to do it?

And I'll be honest with you, a lot of them, the consequences of

them are very short lived and they're very minor.

You know, you stay up late one night, you'll be a little groggy

the next day. You drink up too much caffeine.

You know, one day you stay up too late that night and you'll

be a little groggy the next day. However, there's some very

serious issues that come along with this idea, and this is what

we're going to look at this evening.

Tonight we're going to see the Church of Jerusalem had a

similar issue with something they had Christian liberty to

do, but the issue itself was tearing the church apart.

And through the conversation in chapter #8 Paul makes clear

this, that love matters more than liberty.

And if you want to remember something from this message this

evening, it would be this. And we'll explain what it means

in just a moment that love matters more than liberty.

So let's read chapter #8 OK, we're going to start verse one.

We'll go all the way through. And it says this now as touching

things offered to idols. We know that we all have

knowledge. Knowledge puffed up, puffeth up,

but charity edifieth. If any man think that he knoweth

anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

But if a man love God, the same is known of Him.

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 that there is none other God but one.

For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven

or earth, as there be gods many and Lords many.

Now don't be afraid of that. We'll look at that again in just

a moment. But to us there is one God, and

the Father of whom are all things, and we in Him, and 1

Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.

Howbeit there's not in every man that knowledge.

For some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a

thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak, is

defiled. 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.

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

the idols temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak

be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to

idols? And though thy knowledge shall

be weak, pardon me. And though thy knowledge shall

the one more time all right. And through thy knowledge shall

the weak brother perish, for whom Christ die.

But when he sins so against the brethren, and wound their weak

conscience, he sin against Christ.

Wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no

flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to

offend. Now, before we get too far into

our message this evening, it's important for us to review once

again the concept of Christian liberty that we looked at just a

few weeks ago. Back in chapter 6.

We asked ourselves this question in regards to Christian liberty.

If we're free, are we then therefore free to sin?

And we saw in that message that freedom in Christ does not mean

that we have freedom from living for Christ.

So that freedom in Christ does not mean that we have freedom

from living for Christ. In fact, our Christian liberty

actually makes us more free to be able to live to serve Christ

out of love, and now out of obligation.

Our love for God helps us to understand that liberty is not a

blank check to be able to do whatever we want.

And that's really what this chapter builds upon.

Christian liberty when it comes to what we saw in chapter #6 we

need to be thinking about God when we are making the decisions

that we are in regards to Christian liberty.

Now here in chapter 8, it's not just that we need to think about

God, but now that we need to think about man in regard to our

decisions as to what Christian liberty is all about.

So what is the issue that they are arguing about?

You saw it mentioned here in our text, this issue of eating meat

that is offered unto idols. And we'll explain more about

that what means in just a moment and why they would have been

controversial and why some people would have thought it's

not a big deal and why other people would have thought that

it was a huge deal. But before we get to that, I

want to give us some background that really Paul gives us in

this chapter. So if you're if you're following

along your prayer bulletin, which you are not, but if you

were to have a prayer bulletin and you were writing down inside

your prayer bulletin, the first blank would be #1 the concern #1

the concern. What was the concern that Paul

had for the Corinthians in this matter?

You see, before he addresses the specifics of the controversy, he

makes a statement that seems like on his face it would have

nothing to do with the controversy whatsoever.

He says knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifies.

You see that verse number one right there at the end.

Knowledge puff it up, but charity edify it.

Now this may sound strange. It may sound like Paul is saying

that knowledge is no good, but we understand by knowing the

whole counsel of God that knowledge is very important.

But knowledge is not the end all or the be all.

And So what Paul is saying is that knowledge is good, but

there is another element to knowledge that you need to know,

and that is charity, of course, the purest form of love.

First Corinthians 13 we're going to get there where we find that

charity is not just love, but is the highest regard of love, the

type of love that gives, expecting nothing in return.

And so here he says knowledge puffeth up, but charity

edifieth. Now here's how I've explained it

before and I'll explain it again this evening in regards to

knowledge. Knowledge is like having a pile

of bricks. If you're going to build

something, having a pile of bricks is a good thing.

And if you're building something with bricks, can't build it

without, well, the bricks, right?

That just makes sense. If you were a bricklayer, if

you're building some of the bricks, you have to have bricks.

And knowledge is like a stack of bricks in building something,

you need to have the right kind of bricks.

I have heard that there are different kind of bricks that

may not be as suitable for the tasks that are needed.

They could be too crumbly, they could be too porous, they could

be the incorrect or inconsistent sizing.

These are issues that make sure that you have the right kind of

bricks. And so when it comes to

knowledge, it's it's the same way that we need to make sure

that we have the right kind of knowledge because there's

knowledge that is foolish. There is knowledge that is truly

not knowledge. And so it is important that we

learn knowledge. We're not condemning knowledge

here. Paul certainly as one who was so

learned as he is, was not condemning knowledge in any way,

shape or form, but he's trying to make people understand that

you need to know what knowledge is for.

And knowledge needs to kind of stay in its lane, if you will.

Just because a bricklayer has bricks doesn't mean he can build

in whatever way he wants. You know, he could do a lot of

things with the bricks that were incorrect.

He could make a lot of mistakes. He could just collect bricks and

never do anything with them. He can just find all these

beautiful bricks and never actually do anything with them.

He could say with pride, look at all the bricks that I have and

maybe feel arrogant about the fact that he's collected more

bricks than any other Mason. You could start to build and

never have a plan. Just brick here, brick there,

and hey, we'll see what happens. You can use the bricks to build

something, but then follow the wrong kind of plan that's

suitable for that which you were trying to build.

You can build properly, but yet you can build lazily and not

with that haste that is necessary, particularly when

you're considering the mortar that holds them together.

If you don't lay the bricks in the right timing, then you could

end up not having them cohesively together and they

could cause problems later on. So having the bricks is good,

but what you do with the bricks is vitally important.

Here's what I'm talking about when it comes to the issue of

knowledge. Having knowledge is good.

You need to have the right kind of knowledge.

But just because you have the knowledge doesn't mean you have

achieved the end goal. It doesn't mean you've gotten to

the end result. All it means is, well, you have

some knowledge, you have some bricks.

And here's the question. What are you going to do with

those bricks or what are you going to do with that knowledge?

And that's why he says this. That knowledge puffeth up.

But charity edifieth. Now what is that word charity?

Well, we just talked about what the word charity means.

But that word edifieth, what does that mean?

It it literally means something that is helpful or something

that will build. And so here we see the the

connection of the illustration to what we see here in the Word

of God. If knowledge is the bricks, but

then the bricklayer has to make sure that he is building in a

way that, well, builds properly. If we have knowledge, then we

may have to make sure that we edify or build upon that

knowledge in the right way. And how do we do that?

We must use knowledge with love. We must use knowledge with

biblical charity. And this is how Paul opens First

Corinthians 13, 13 when he says, though I speak with the tongues

of men and angels and have not charity, I'm become as a

sounding brass or tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all

mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that

I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing.

He says this, it's good to have the knowledge.

It's right to have the knowledge.

But that's not the end all be all.

It's just the beginning. Like a Mason can't collect

bricks and say I'm done. It's like, dude, you just

started, what are you going to do with it?

OK, You have knowledge, you're going to do with it, You're

going to employ it. You were going to use it in a

fashion that builds people up, which means that you need to use

it with charity. And so Paul's laying a

foundation right now in this whole argument about whether we

should eat meat offered to idols or not.

This argument that's taking place in the Corinthian church,

it's so hot that they are now writing to Paul and saying, help

us settle this issue, whether we should be acting this way or not

with the meat or without the meat, with the idols or without

the idols. And Paul says time out.

Before I tell you what I think you need to do with this, you

need to understand that the knowledge that you have is good.

However, the charity that you have, one to another, should

supersede that knowledge and should really coincide with the

knowledge so that make it you can make sure that you are

making the proper decisions because these decisions aren't

being made in a vacuum. And Paul reiterates that in

verses #2 and 3 when he says, if any man think that he knoweth

anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

Basically Paul saying a know it all doesn't know anything.

He says though, listen to what I'm trying to explain to you.

Listen to what I'm trying to teach you.

Because if you're just going by this is what I know, this is

what I believe, and that's it. And you're not keeping in mind

the other people around you, then you're going to abuse your

Christian liberty. And the verse #3 says, but if

any man love God, the same is known of him.

And we could look at it this way, that true spiritual

maturity isn't about how much you know, but by how much you

love and how much you are loved by God.

And again, we know that God loves us all, that God loved us

when we were unlovable, that he loves us.

We love Him because he first loved us first.

John, we just mentioned, I just mentioned that last week, But

rather, we also understand that we are known of him, that our

love that comes from him to us, that there's an intimacy that

comes when we have a loving relationship with him.

And so Paul's reiterating that here to the people of Corinth,

You know, you know what you know and what you know is good, but

you have to make sure that you have charity with each other as

well. And so that first part is the

concern that Paul's laying out. He's giving the groundwork for

the problem at hand here, and this is important for us to see.

But then he lays out number two, not just a concern, but the

controversy. So what's the actual controversy

that takes place? I know we saw it here, mentioned

it briefly, but what exactly is taking place?

And verse #4 opens up with that when it says as concerning,

therefore, the eating of those things that are offered and

sacrifice unto idols. We know that an idol is nothing

in the world and that there is none other God but one.

OK, so it says right, right there that there is this issue

that people in the church are eating meat offered to idols.

Now, that's enough for us to be able to have some understanding

what's taking place, but history actually also gives us a fuller

understanding of what Paul is talking about here.

The meat that was being spoken of was offered on Pagan altars

and it was usually divided in three portions when it was taken

to the altar of Zeus or would have been taken to the altar of

Aphrodite, particularly there in Corinth, that they had this meat

that had been sacrificed and now they had loads and loads of meat

that was leftover and typically one portion was burned and honor

the God. Another portion was given to the

worshipper to take home and to eat, and a third final portion

was given to the priest. Now the priest didn't always

want that portion or the priest sometime may have had more of an

abundance that was necessary. So what they would do is they

would take that and they would sell that meat at what would be

a temple restaurant or a temple market or something of that

nature. So what you have is the people

at Corinth are having questions about whether members are going

to the temple, an area adjacent to the temple, maybe even inside

the temple, and they are going to eat this meat.

And the meat was at a bargain because it was received for

free. And so, you know, people in back

then like a good deal. And So what is going to happen

is that the Christians of the Church of Corinth, some of them

were saying, listen, my meat market is the temple.

Why is that? Well, I don't like the what goes

on to the temple, but they have the best prices and I want to

make the most of the money that I have.

Nobody has been prices than temple meat market.

Nobody cooks it better than the temple meat market.

So I will go over there and eat. And so you can see that there's

this argument that's fomenting here for that's not the word I

was looking for fermenting. There's, there's an argument

here and that's, there's an argument that's taking place

amongst the people. It's hard.

I don't have any feedback because it's just me.

And so some of you just saying, Pastor, what are you talking

about? I can't tell what you're saying.

But anyway, if I could just stare at myself on the computer

screen and I, I don't, I'm not giving myself approval right

now. But anyway, even there's a Greek

order and philosopher who talked about this.

His name was Christostum and he said in the markets of Corinth

and other cities, people do not think it's strange to buy meat

from the sacrifices, for this is lawful and customary among men.

So this raised many ethical and theological questions amongst

the people that were there in the Church of Corinth.

And so they had some real issues with this questions like what if

we're served meat purchased at the temple market when we're

guests at someone's home? Can a Christian eat at the

restaurant at the Pagan temple? Is it proper to be able to eat

meat at all that has been blessed by a Pagan priest or

that was offered to a Pagan God? And so there are two sides to

the argument here. And maybe already you're

thinking about, well, I know what I would do if this was me.

And I want you to put that on pause for just a second because

I want you to consider the arguments and then consider what

Paul's going to say in response to him.

But they're basically 2 arguments.

There's one group that says, listen, who cares?

The gods aren't real. We know they're not real.

We know that God is real. He's the only one that's real.

I'm trying to save my money. I'm trying to be a good steward.

If I go there and I buy it for cheap, then what's the

difference? And that's really the argument

that comes up in verse #5 and six for though there be that are

called gods, whether in heaven and earth, as there be gods many

and Lords many. And again, I told you, don't

worry about that. Let's talking about the human

gods and human Lords. In fact, you go to Psalm 82,

Psalms 82:6–8

verse 6 through 8. It talks about those leaders

that have a judgment that is laid upon them.

But it's not talking about the fact that there are other true

gods, because it says in verse #6 But to us there is but one

God. Of course, that was reiterated

the end of verse #4 as well. But there is to us but one God,

the Father of whom are all things, and we and him and 1

Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

So there's this first group who says, if I know that God isn't

real, well, who cares if I go or not?

I can handle it. I'm not going to go into the

temple and worship in the way that they worship.

And I know that God's not real. And if anybody saw me walk into

that temple meat market and thought that I was actually

going to worship that idol will shame on them for thinking that

because they should know my Christian testimony as such as

that. I don't believe those things.

And so that one group is very passionate about that.

But you had the second group that, well, they didn't quite

understand why, if you're saved by the blood of Jesus Christ,

then why on earth would you go back to the temple of which you

probably were worshipping at before, and now you're going

back? But it's like, hey, I don't

believe that anymore, but I like the meat.

And listen, I like BBQ as much as anybody.

But the question is, does that mean I should be going into a

Pagan temple to get it? And that comes up in verse #7

where it says, howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge.

For some with conscience of the idol, under this hour Eden is

the thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak,

is defiled now. The first group could dismiss

the second group and say, well, listen, get it together.

You know, you're a believer now. You know that this isn't a

thing, so what's the big deal? But the second group could say,

what's the matter with you? Don't you know we used to

worship there? Don't you know the things that

took place there? Don't you know that that meat

was offered to the idols? Why would you have a part of

that? And there were some that perhaps

were Jews that in their soul they were uncomfortable with

this Pagan worship. They were uncomfortable with it

in his very core, even before they were saved and said, no, I

don't want to go in there. But then again, there were some

of the Gentiles who went in there freely before they got

saved. And and now they're saying, why

would I want to go back there? And they kind of look at the

thing with the first group and say, how could you be so casual

about this? How could you not?

How, how could you just go in there knowing what takes place

and, and knowing that this meat was offered to idols?

Why on earth would you do that? And it says that there's a, a

weakness in their spirit in that second group in verse #7 when it

says and their conscience being weak, is defiled.

Now, again, that's not talking about the fact that they're weak

and self-discipline in the sense that they Paul's not suggesting

that they think that if they go back to the temple, all of a

sudden they're going to start worshipping at the temple again.

Was talking about that in their conscience.

They say, I, I can't handle that.

I can't do that. I, I, I can't square that

circle, if you will, that I would go back to the place to

buy meat where I used to worship a Pagan God.

And so it seems like they're loggerheads.

It seems like there's two groups that have two very entrenched

positions and never the twain shall meet.

And so we have this concern that Paul has he he lays the

groundwork that knowledge puffeth up.

But charity edifieth knowledge is like the bubble and charities

like the builder, right knowledge, you know puffeth up,

you know, you know the bubble and then you have the builder.

That's what charity is. And so we start with this

foundation of charity and then he goes into the the controversy

itself. And again, their knowledge is

getting in the way. A little bit of really thinking

about this group says, I know that God is not real, that

little G God that is being worshipped.

I know he's not real. My knowledge is right and true

about that and that other group, but their knowledge is different

and they're saying, I came from that before.

And I don't understand why anybody would want to go back

there, even if it's not to worship, even if it's just to

get this cheap meat. And so that really brings us to

the third part, which is the conclusion.

And unfortunately for you, that's the longest part of my

message. And so we have the concern and

the controversy, but we also have the conclusion because what

does Paul say about this? And interestingly enough, this

conundrum doesn't probably have the satisfying answer that

you're looking for because perhaps maybe just going back in

your mind from when we read the text a few moments ago, you're

saying which camp did he go into, camp number one or camp

number 2? Was he?

And it's not a big deal to go in there or you ought not to go

back in there at all. And the answer is yes, you say,

pastor, it's not a yes or no question.

And the answer is exactly, it is not a yes or no question.

And if you're looking for a yes or no answer, then you're going

to be very unsatisfied by what you're going to find in the next

verses. But really the issue all comes

down to this love. Now, I'm not talking about that

weak, wishy washy, mealy mouthed, liberal Christianity

type of love. That means love everything that

God hates. That's not what I'm talking

about. What I'm talking about is love

for the brethren, love for one another.

This is what is to govern, what we ought to do.

Love matters more than liberty. That was true in chapter 6, that

our love for God matters more than our liberty.

And here in chapter 8 our love for each other matters more than

liberty. And this shouldn't surprise us

because we go back to the Gospels and Jesus says this.

He says the 1st and greatest commandment is this.

Love the Lord thy God of all that heart and all thy soul, and

all that mind. And the second greatest

commandment is life unto it. Love thy neighbor as thyself.

Upon this hangs all the law and the prophets.

And Jesus said this because he basically said if you love God

the way you want and you love man as you want, then really you

can fulfill all of the law and the prophets in that.

Because, well, even the 10 commandments, the first four

deal with this love God. The last six deal with this love

man. And if you call those or if you

follow those the way you want, you follow all the 10

commandments. And the issue here is the same.

Christian liberty should be tempered by our love for God.

Christian liberty should be tempered by our love for each

other. See, a lot of times when we come

these issues, and this is where we're going to kind of get down

to brass tacks because here for us, you're saying, pastor, this

is not an issue for us today and it's not an issue for us today.

But the issue that underlies the issue is as relevant today as it

was 2000 years ago when this was pinned.

When we get to these issues, you know, what should I do?

Should I eat the meat offered idols?

Should I not eat the meat offered idols?

Everybody was concerned with what I need to do.

Now catch this. Everyone's concerned.

What can I do? What am I allowed to do?

Me, me, me, me, me. And so Paul says this.

The answer really comes down to not you.

The answer has to come down to your brother.

It's really not about what's best for me, what is about

what's best for thee. And that's what Paul gets down

to, to the place that if you did something that you knew would

cause your brother to stumble and fall into sin just so you

can exercise your Christian liberty, then you are the one

that is in sin. This is what Paul says for us,

and this is what Paul means in Galatians 513.

I know we read this verse back a few weeks ago in relation to

Christian liberty and 1st Corinthians chapter 6, but he

said this in Galatians 513 For brethren, he had been called to

liberty only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by

love that what do we just see? Charity edifieth by love serve

one another. And so we see here think about

the other person. And so Galatians 513 just fits

so well into this chapter. But by love serve one another

that our liberty is not to be abused.

And that is true even with our Christian brethren, or I should

maybe even say, especially with our Christian brethren.

So what should a Christian do when meat is offered to idols?

Well, again, the problem with answering this so cleanly is it

doesn't. It's an answer that can't be

answered in a vacuum because you're talking to people who are

intertwined in a church. You're talking to brothers and

sisters in Christ who are observing one another in the

temple, outside the temple. And so the answer cannot just be

as clean as this is what I want to do because you were part of a

body. And we learned from First

Corinthians 12, and it's why the book just goes so well together.

God's harmony of this word is that First Corinthians 12, we

are a body and that we are intertwined.

And what you do affects me, what I do effects you.

And so it's not just about what I want, cheap meat.

It has to be more other than that.

It's not just about that God isn't real.

It has to be more than that because what you do effects me,

and what I do ought to affect you.

So now go down to verse #8 let's read through the rest of the

chapter and see the conclusion of this matter.

It says, But me commendeth us not to God.

For neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not or

we the worst. So Paul says, stop right here

before you get so bent out of shape.

It's just made, you know, there's so many hills that we

want to die on. And if we just took a breath and

backed up for a second about backed up in the ice maker.

But if we we just took a breath, we realized this isn't as

important as I'm making out to be.

He says you eat meat, you don't eat meat.

Really in the eyes of God, this doesn't matter.

Again, there's nothing wrong with eating meat in general.

We know that Peter struggled with this.

And then the vision came down three different times.

Peter was told rise and kill and eat.

So there's no condemnation that comes with that.

But whether you eat it or not your whole life, this is not the

real issue of life. And so he starts by saying,

listen, calm down for a second. Take a breath, survey the

landscape of this argument before you plant your flag on

one side or the other. And that's why he used the

phrase take heed in verse #9 but take heed by any means.

This liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to them that are

weak. So you have the liberty to go to

the temple, but make sure that you don't cause someone to

stumble. Make sure that someone who is

weaker. Remember weaker in their

knowledge. We're going to see weaker in

their conscience, the idea that either they're younger in the

faith or because they've had some experiences in their past,

or because of a sin that does so easily beset them.

Be careful that you don't allow your Christian liberty to cause

someone else to stumble. For if any man see thee which

hath knowledge sit at the meat in the idols temple, shall not

the conscience of him that is weak be emboldened to eat those

things that are offered to idols?

What you do matters to other people.

As soon as somebody sees you do something, they see that as

approval. And so Paul says, think about

this. Imagine you were sitting at the

window, if we could just put it that way, of the temple meat

market. You're enjoying a rack of ribs

right there. You got sauce all over your

face. You got sauce all over your

hands. Saint Louis style BBQ.

OK, I'm going way too far here, but you understand.

You're just loving life and you got barbecue on your face.

You got barbecue on your hands. You got those wet naps and

you've got them everywhere. And you look out the window and

right there is a man from church and he's staring at you.

This brother just got saved. This brother perhaps used to be

in service in the temple. Now he sees you sit in the

temple eating the ribs, having the time of your life.

What does that communicate to him?

And maybe say, well, listen, I'm just going to live my life and

it really doesn't matter. Knowledge puffeth up.

I know it's not real knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifies.

Is that meat so important to you that you were willing to allow

someone else to stumble in their walk?

And so verse #11 continues. And through thy knowledge there

it is, the connection with verse #1 thy knowledge.

Shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died.

Now talking about that brother perishing, I, I, we could look

at that several different ways. The Bible talks about the

outward man perishing, but the inward man renewing day by day.

Perhaps even that brother could end up going into a place, not

that his soul was taken, but that he could get into some

very, very bad ways. Because he's seen other people

that have given the name of Christ, but for some reason

doesn't seem like they're acting like Christ.

And now they get involved in something they shouldn't get

involved in. And now all of a sudden they get

themselves and stared into a really, really bad place.

And so Paul said, does this, Are you willing to sack love my own

preferences. And so verse #12 says, but when

he sins so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience,

ye sin against Christ. This is important.

You say this is a preference password.

Whatever I do, you know if you do something that causes another

brother to stumble, then you have sinned against the Lord,

even if what you are not doing is inherently sinful.

Because your inherent sin is loving yourself more than loving

the other person. Your inherent sin is

selfishness. So.

But what I was doing wasn't a big deal.

But the meat. The idols aren't real.

Yes, but you took an idol and worshipped it.

You weren't expecting. You worshiped yourself above the

other person, and so in that you have sinned.

You see, there's a completely different way of looking.

You know, we're so in tune and ingrained, especially United

States of America. These are my rights.

These are my rights. And by the way, we have rights

and thank the Lord for the rights that we have.

But sometimes we take that into the Christian realm and all we

think about is this is what I can do, this is what I can do.

And we don't give a hoot about our brethren, and we might cause

them to stumble, them to fall, them to be concerned, them to

have a conflict of conscience. And it never even crosses our

mind. And Paul says this is sin and

you're sinning against Christ. But verse 13 says, wherefore me

make my brother to offend? I will eat no flesh while the

world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

Now there's an interesting phrase here.

It's given twice in the phrase in the verse.

It doesn't say that if you offend somebody that you need to

correct your ways because boy, people can get offended on

anything nowadays. But it says if I've caused my

brother to offend, the difference there is it's not

that I am they are offended because of their sensibilities.

But if I do something that caused them to offend, in

essence to stumble to sin, that's a big difference because

if you're constantly looking around, are you offended?

Are you offended? Are you offended?

Are you offended you can't live the Christian life because we

just need to make sure we live for the Lord as he has told us

to live. But in that he has told us make

sure that you're looking to others, that you're not going to

do something that is going to teach them something that will

cause them to stumble. And so because of that, what do

you do? Christian Liberty says you love

the other person. There's a lot of examples of

this today. Again, you say, pastor, this

probably doesn't have a whole lot to do with us today.

There are in Christianity several items that again, this

is not about things that God calls sin.

You say, well, you know, some people drink alcohol and some

people don't. The Bible calls it sin.

We're not talking about that. Well, you know, some people use

the King James Version, other people use different Bible

versions. Nope.

I believe very clearly the King James Bible is the inspired word

of God for the English speaking people.

Praise the Lord for it. That is perfect.

It's inspired. We're not talking about that.

We're talking about items that, you know, different people look

at a little bit different ways. There are some Christians that

won't eat pork. I love bacon.

Avoid. Well, I love bacon.

I sure do. I couldn't do that.

I could not. I go back to, you know, rise and

kill and eat. But there are some Christians

who believe we should be following the Leviticus,

Levitical dietary laws, the laws of Moses.

Some Christians don't eat meat at all.

That is their right to be able to do so.

There are issues like Christian School and home school and

public school, which is right. And boy, there could be heated

arguments on all of those sides. I'll say I have typically not

like a lot of regard for the public school system, but there

are some places where in situations where the public

school system is such that you feel like your child could be

shielded from a lot of the worldly influences.

But that's something that you have to get with with the Lord.

Going to eat on a Sunday or even shopping on a Sunday.

There's some Christians who won't do it, Still won't.

I've encountered some of them before.

I'll go out to eat on a Sunday. Don't have any problem with it,

but there's some that do. Going into a paki and buying

something that is not alcohol, you know, you go in and buy a

bag of ice. You can go in and buy a soda,

you can go in and buy a pack of gum.

You can do that. Now, I would argue that we're to

abstain from all appearance of evil, and I think that ought to

cover something like that. But you could also say, well, I

mean, I'm not going in to buy any alcohol, so what's the big

deal? And you could be right about

that. You can walk into a packie every

day your entire life, never get alcohol, never get scratch

tickets, never get anything like that and you could be fine.

But the question is, what happens when those people see

you go in there every day? Are you going to be able to

witness to them? What happens when someone from

church sees you going in there? Are you going to be able to talk

to them about the Lord? Are you be able, oh, could they

stumble? Go to a restaurant that serves

alcohol? That's another one.

I know some who don't want to go to a restaurant that won't serve

alcohol. Not many to go to anymore.

Be honest. Even Cracker Barrel serves

alcohol anymore. It's an abomination as far as

I'm concerned. But I go to restaurants that

serve alcohol. I just don't sit at the bar.

And there are some Christians who feel like that is not

something that they should do. So here's what it comes down to.

What? What should we do?

Well, what we need to do? As you just read, we finished

the chapter. He said, which one can't #1

can't #2 where does Paul fit? Again, Paul doesn't fit in

either of them. He says this.

Consider the brethren. Consider that you don't cause

them to offend, to stumble. So think of others more than you

think of yourself. Now, this follows a lot more

than just the Christian element, or rather maybe the Church

element, we could call it, but it ought to be just true in our

homes. You know, when it comes to a

marriage relationship, we ought to think of our spouse more than

we think of ourselves. If we're not careful, even in

marriage, we can push our own ideas, our own things that we

want to do. This is what I want to do.

This is what I want to spend my money on or our money on.

This is what I want to do this evening.

And we can end up just pushing our own agenda and causing the

other person some real harm in the sense that they don't feel

loved or they don't feel cherished.

And so we prefer ourselves more than the other person.

And that can be problematic amongst friends.

Even making sure that one another cares for one another

and encouraging each other, building each other.

They're up in their Christian walk instead of something that

could take away from it. At work, again, even amongst

other people that we're making sure that we're acting in such a

way that people can see Christ in us.

The hope of glory. Our mindset should always be one

of love and not of liberty. It's not that I can do it, but

the question is, should I do that?

That's what we have to truly ask ourselves this evening.

Now I want us to to finish by turn to Romans chapter #14

there's a text. I think they'll be helpful to us

tonight. Romans chapter #14 begin in

verse #1 here in just a second. This text fits very well with

what we're talking about tonight.

You know, I'll be honest with you.

There are times I don't even tell people, you know, this is

what TV shows I watch or movies I watch because even then, now

we watch our television shows and movies with filters because

there's filtering companies filtering software out there

that are great at that. But what if somebody shouldn't

be what? What if just turning on the

television certain things brings things up in their minds that

they ought not to? Maybe some people don't have

televisions in their in their house.

Maybe some don't have the Internet and a lot of different

things. I don't want to call someone

else to stumble by past, you know, Pastor said this, this

show is approved. Well, sometimes I watch a show

and maybe I realize later, maybe I shouldn't have watched that

show. The Holy Spirit starts working

on my heart. What I'm saying what we got to

be super careful about how we affect other people, not because

we're going to offend people, but I don't want to cause them

to offend. I don't want them to stumble and

to put my thumbprint to put my stamp of approval on something

and it could end up somebody go in a direction they ought not to

go in the 1st place, just because I exercised my Christian

liberty in a way that was unwise because thinking more about

myself than I was thinking about other people.

So look at Romans chapter 14 verse #1 him that is weak in the

Romans 14 · chapter mention

faith receive ye, but not too doubtful dispensation

disputations. Rather, one believed that he

made whole things. Another who is weak Edith herbs.

So see, that kind of goes back what we're talking about

vegetarianism and such like that.

Let him, let not him that Edith despise him that Edith not, and

let not him which Edith not, judge him that Edith for God

hath received him. Here's what's being said in

conjunction with what we just read about.

If you're in camp, number one, don't despise the people in camp

#2. And if you're camp #2 don't

despise the people in camp #1 because the people in camp #1 if

they are truly right in their heart, just want to love Jesus.

And in their mind, they know they love Jesus and there's

nobody else like Jesus. So I'm going to eat this meat.

And the other side, they're not going in because they love

Jesus. And they don't want to go in

because they love Jesus and they don't want to do anything that's

may even have a sniff of it. So it says if you're whatever

group you're in, don't despise the other.

To understand with Christian charity again charity edify this

that knowledge that builds that it tears down so often again,

not that knowledge is wrong, but built improperly can cause so

much trouble. Who art thou that judgeth none

of the man's servant to his own master.

He standeth or falleth. Yeah, he shall be holding up for

God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above

another. Another esteemeth everyday

alike. Let every man be fully persuaded

in his own mind. I'm going to go here.

Maybe it's because I'm at home and because I can't look at your

faces, but I not go here anyway, whether I was at church or not.

There's controversy, especially here in New England.

Is Christmas something that we should be celebrating or not?

Because our Puritan roots here in New England are such that

they go back to, you know, some Pagan roots of Christ of

Christmas. There are people have problems

with Christmas trees, things like that.

Now, I love Christmas, I love Jesus of Christmas tree.

We had people at liberty who had a problem with Christmas trees

and problem with Christmas and those kind of things.

We had a man at one point who decided he wasn't going to come

to church during Christmas, which it seems odd to me because

we still want to like be in church because we ought to be.

But that was his Christian liberty to be able to do so.

But here's what it comes down to that even in those groups that

the people who celebrate Christmas, what's about Jesus,

we love him. And the people, the other group,

they see something in Christian, which I believe some of their

historical background is actually in error, quite

honestly. But in that even in their heart

it is. But we love Jesus.

And so instead of looking at each other like we're enemies,

why don't we try to encourage one another even if we're on

different sides of the issue. And so Paul says this, don't get

yourself bent out of shape about this.

And I'll be honest, there were people even at our church the

first couple years ago really bent out of shape by this to the

point I had to say, listen, we're all on the same team.

Everybody here is trying to love Jesus and we're trying to do it

the best that we can. This is what Paul says here.

You can't argue with Paul. You can argue with me, but you

can't argue with Paul because Paul says literally about

regarding the day and others not regarding the day.

He that regardeth the day regards that of the Lord.

And this is what I just said. He that regardeth not the day to

the Lord, he does not regard it. He that eateth the Lord or he

giveth God thanks. He that eateth not to the Lord

he is not and giveth God thanks. Now remember I said none of

these things happen in the vacuum.

Here's what it says. For none of us live it to

himself, and no man died to himself.

For whether we live, we will live into the Lord.

Whether we die, we die into the Lord.

Whether we live therefore die, we are the Lords.

So we think of the Lord with our Christian liberty.

We think of others with our Christian liberty.

And love Trump's liberty. Again, not the wishy washy,

mealy mouthed liberal Christianity.

Love everything, love sin. No, no, we're not talking about

that. Our love for the Lord and our

love for others should make sure that we do right no matter what.

I give you the story and I'll be done and I've given the story

before it's been a few years, but there was a man who lived or

rather worked at Westgate for just a year.

He was a man who was a got an earned doctorate from UC

Berkeley. Now you understand that not all,

excuse me, not only is that a very prestigious institution is

also probably one of the more most liberal institutions in

America, perhaps apart from Harvard and anything that would

be located in Cambridge. But this gentleman got saved by

the blood of Jesus Christ. Absolutely incredible.

Was living a very, very Pagan life before in every way, very

heavy in the party scene. Now this man's relaying this to

me in his 60s, very heavy in the party scene, very heavy in

substance abuse of all kinds. They got saved by the blood of

Jesus Christ, and it took some time for him to extricate

himself from that lifestyle because he was in the place

where he said, well, I'm going to do less of what I did before

that. I'm not going to do what I did

before, but I'm still going to go to the parties and those kind

of things. And he was trying to wean

himself off, which is probably not the wisest thing, but if you

don't have someone necessarily disciple you exactly in this,

this is what he was doing, and he was trying to do it for the

Lord. Now he was talking to someone

else about becoming a Christian and he was very adamant to this

gentleman that he needed to receive Christ just as he did.

And so he was doing that and this was going on for some

period of time where he was trying to explain to him his

need to believe in Jesus Christ just as he did.

Went to it happened to be that this gentleman that I knew went

to a party one night and they said, hey, you know, do you want

to drink? And he said, no, you know, I'm

not drinking anymore. I'm here, but I'm not going to

drink. They said, Hey, we go to the

liquor store, then we're at we're out of liquor.

And So what happens is he says, well, I guess I should, I'm

going to just go and I'll, I'll just go and, and, and get some

liquor. And it may honestly may have

even not been liquor. It may have just been they got

some mixers or some ice or something like that.

That part, I don't remember. This part is very clear to me,

but that he was in the store and he was in line at the store.

And who happens to walk into the store and sees him in the line

carrying a bunch of stuff. The man that he's trying to

witness to. And he says, I thought you said

you were a Christian. And he's who I am.

I'm not really, this isn't for me.

It's really for someone else. And this man looked at me, tears

in his eyes. That has probably happened four

years before or so. And he said that that man would

never listen to him about Jesus Christ ever again.

And so he understood. Was he doing anything wrong?

He wasn't going to drink it. He wasn't imbibing himself,

nothing of that nature. But he realized I really

shouldn't be doing this and it's going to hurt someone else.

So when it comes down to the issue of sin, don't do sin.

That's the end of the message for that.

There is no Christian liberty when it comes to sin, right?

Don't do it. I mean, you can, but you ought

not. But there are some of these

issues where you're not really doing anything wrong, but if you

are causing someone else to stumble, you are doing wrong and

you are sinning. So tonight, are your thoughts

more about me or more about thee?

Is it more about I have my rights, or is it about I'm going

to try to help other people and I'm going to consider them more

than I consider myself. Not just a church, but in my

home, the marriage relationship, in the home, in the workplace,

the people you're trying to witness to, the people that

you're around every day, just in the here and there of life.

Will you consider them more than you consider yourself?

Because love matters more than liberty.

Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of

Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing

to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us

know by contacting us at [email protected].

Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton,

MA. May the Lord bless you as you

grow in His Word.