"A Study of 1 Corinthians" by Hiram Kemp - Part 6

I don't know if this works, but now it is. All right, good morning.

If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn it to 1 Corinthians 7.

Today we're going to try to get through the end of 1 Corinthians 7 and

then 1 Corinthians chapter 8. But good to see everybody here, and good

1 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

to see everybody back that went away on fall break. Appreciate everybody being here.

Congratulations to Neil and Kathy and Jack and Cherie, and also Dale

and Janelle on a newborn baby and grandbaby. I know they're excited about that,

and we're excited for them. And thankful that you braved the conditions, come out

in this mist or this rain. I don't know what you want to call it,

but I'm glad you're here. Last week, Neil dealt with most of 1 Corinthians

7, and in 1 Corinthians 7, a great deal of what Paul talks about there

is marital intimacy and how that relationship works. And then he

talks about various circumstances related to marriage. So Paul

will talk about what a Christian should do in the case that they're married to

a non-Christian, and how should that work, and what God expects them to do in

that situation. But he also talks about what a person should do

in the case of desertion, if their spouse leaves them. And he says, hey,

you're not a slave in that condition. He doesn't say get remarried, but he says

you're not under bondage. And then at the end of 1 Corinthians 7, we'll look

today at verses 25 through 40. Paul deals with one more

circumstance in relation to marriage— well, really 2 more. He deals with widows,

that is virgins, those that have never been married. And then he's going to talk

about individuals that are widows who were married but their spouses died, and he'll talk

about how to proceed and go forward from there. And 1 Corinthians 7:25-40,

1 Corinthians 7:25–40

this section is pretty straightforward. I don't see us having a lot of issues with

it, but sometimes when you say that, people have a lot of issues with it.

But we'll see. But we also make some application that

Paul makes as we work through this section. 1 Corinthians 7, if you notice verse

25, this is another one of those now concerning. So he says, now concerning

the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my

judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. So he's

going to talk to these widows and to these virgins about their circumstance, and he

says, now concerning. So every time you see the phrase now concerning in 1 Corinthians,

it's typically in response to a question the Corinthians had asked

Paul. And this is a second question in relation to the ones he's already dealt

with in marriage. And here's what he says: I don't have a command from the

Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

So what Paul's going to say in the rest of this section isn't actually commanded,

you ought to do this or that. He's saying Jesus didn't speak to these circumstances

in his earthly ministry. As an inspired apostle, here's my advice

on how you ought to proceed in these circumstances. And in verse 26, he says,

I think that in view of the present distress, it's good for a person

to remain as he is. And so, he's going to work through how

he thinks people ought to behave and remain based on their circumstances. But in

verse 26, everything that Paul says in the rest of this section is

driven by what's called in verse 26, the present distress.

We don't know what that was. Some people think it's persecution. Some people think maybe

there was a famine like in Acts 11 and verse 28. But we just know

that there was something going on with the Corinthians, and because of that, Paul felt

like in these circumstances you shouldn't get married. Or if

you're married, just stay in the present circumstance you find yourself in,

but don't complicate matters in your life by getting into new relationships and

so on and so forth. It could be a host of different things that are

taking place. Commentators have guessed at what it might be, but nobody

really knows for sure. But you can think of some passages like Acts 14:22.

Acts 14:22

It says, we through many tribulations must enter the kingdom of God.

So, in the first century church, there were always these different issues coming up,

but there seemed to be an impending and present difficulty that

was peculiar to the Corinthians. And Paul's saying, in light of this, I know

you've asked me some questions about virgins who've never married and about

widows. And I'm giving you my perspective, Paul is saying, in that case,

I would leave things as they are. And in verses 27 through 28, he says,

he elaborates, are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be free.

Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do

marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned.

Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare

you that. So, in verse 27 and 28, again, what is Paul telling them that

they should do? Stay what? Stay as they are. But something not

to miss here. What does Paul tell them in verse 28? But if you do

what? If you do marry, you haven't what?

Why not? What was that?

It's a matter of judgment. And earlier Paul had already said, if you go back

up to 1 Corinthians 7:6-9, it's better to marry than to burn with passion.

1 Corinthians 7:6–9

Just as a side note, what Paul's doing in this section is a great

precursor for what's gonna come up about matters of judgment in chapters 8 through 10.

Paul's modeling what he'll later teach about, hey, just because

you have a strong opinion about something doesn't mean that everybody has to get

in line. Paul's already given his judgment. If you go back up to verse 7

in this chapter, Paul says, I wish everybody was just like me

without a spouse. He says, I would tell you in view of the present distress,

don't get married, don't complicate matters. However, if you marry,

you haven't sinned because you have the biblical right from God. It's a

matter of judgment. It's your own choice. And then he says, I'm telling you

this, in verse 28, because I want you to be free from worldly cares.

Look at verse 28 down through verse 31. But if you

do marry, you have not sinned. And if a betrothed

woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly

troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed

time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live

as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning,

and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy

as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as

if they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is

passing away. So, in summary, some people think Paul believes the

end of the world is coming. I'm not sure that that's what Paul's saying.

I think Paul's just saying whatever the Corinthians were facing, again, a present

distress unknown to us, he's saying in view of this impending hardship

and difficulty that's coming, you want to be as free as you possibly

could be from worldly cares and things that will complicate your

life and make it harder. Can you think of any other text where a similar

thing like this is said? Like, hey, difficulty's coming, so you really

don't want to be caught up in anything so you can be free to focus

on what's ahead. Yeah, the destruction of Jerusalem.

Think Mark 13, Matthew 24. Jesus says, hey, when the destruction

of Jerusalem comes, you really hope it's not on the Sabbath day. You hope that

a person's not pregnant. The gates will be open. You can go about and do

your own thing. Paul's saying that same thing here. Marriage isn't bad.

Paul's already said this earlier in the chapter, but here he's arguing

for, hey, remain single if you can because difficulty's on the

horizon. All right, next he goes into the differences

between people that are married and that are not. So he's already said because of

the present distress, but now he gets specific about the difference between married people

and single and why he would say in view of the present distress, don't get

married if you can help it. Verses 32 through 34, I want you to be

free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord,

how to please the Lord. The married man is anxious about worldly

things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.

And the unmarried or the betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord,

how to be holy in body and in spirit. But the married woman is anxious

about things of the world, how to please her husband. And I really don't like

anxious there. It's probably better like concerned about, and some translations have that. The ESV

goes with anxious. Paul's just saying, if you're single,

your primary focus, you're concerned about who?

The Lord. And if you're married, you're concerned about?

And the Lord. So he says, hey, your interests are divided. And so again,

you can see his reasoning on why he's making the case he's making. Now let's

get practical. What does this tell you that Paul thinks about marriage?

What does this tell you that Paul is saying to you if you're a married

person? Just parenthetically, what does he say about your relationship to the

Lord and about spiritual things that would be helpful for you if you're married.

What does Paul just assume in this text? If you're married,

what?

Well, yeah, yeah. So Amanda says you're focusing on your spouse and

not the Lord. Sometimes it's a distraction. I don't know that it would be completely

a distraction in the negative sense, but I think he's saying if you're married,

God expects that you're going to be concerned and give attention to who or to

what? To your spouse. Sometimes we get into this conundrum.

It's like, well, should I do like family stuff or

church work? And according to the Bible, family stuff is church work because

God's given you a family. And Paul assumes that, hey, if you're a married

person, it's just inevitable you're going to be worried about the things of your spouse.

You should be. To not be would be the unbiblical response because

the New Testament repeatedly emphasizes this. So you can think about Ephesians

Ephesians 5:25–32

5:25-32 or Colossians 3:18-19.

Colossians 3:18–19

God would not want you to— I know a man, a great man.

He's in his 80s now. He's a faithful Christian. He lives in Florida,

but he's told me this story several times that when he was coming

up in business, was very successful, did well,

he really wanted to be sacrificial in his giving. And he was, I mean,

over and abundantly so, but to a great

fault to his family. And they grew up to be bitter toward him and toward

the church as a result. Nothing was wrong with being benevolent and kind

and gracious to the church in his giving, but to starve out

your family in this view of, I'm going to be this zealous Christian for God,

we'll just be these sort of paupers financially because I really love

the Lord, is not what God expects you to do. If you're ever juggling that,

like, what does God want me to do? I mean, be faithful to him or

care about my family? The answer is yes. Do both. And Paul

assumes that that's the case. The married person is anxious or concerned

about the things of their spouse. Is there anything wrong with that? No. And sometimes

to be a good spouse and be what God would have you to be— Amanda

used the word distraction, but I think sometimes you've got to say no to certain

even church activities and functions in the sense of don't overextend

yourself because you've got concerns that God's given you

and that God wants you to carry out. Now, on the other side of that,

what does Paul say about single people here? What does this tell you Paul thinks

about people that are single? Stay single,

yes, but in 32 and 34, what is the single person concerned about?

Things of God, which means what? They've got

more time for spiritual endeavors. And to me, this says several things. Number one,

the height of somebody's spiritual life— sometimes we think like, well, we really

don't want to put too much on a person in their 20s or late teen

years, early 30s if they're not married yet. Paul says this is the prime of

life to actually serve the Lord because guess what? You don't have anything

else intruding on your time. You can give yourself fully to

the work of the Lord. And Paul says that's exactly what God would expect you

to do. But the second thing is this: as Christians, we probably should not look

at all single people as kind of spiritually defective. And we

sometimes think— you see a person, they're single, late 20s, early 30s,

what do we always want to ask them? When are you what? When you get

married. As if what? That's a part of the package deal. Hear, believe,

repent, confess, be baptized, and get— that's not in the book though.

And Paul says sometimes you can be of great service and benefit to

the Lord by being single. And yes, some people

are in this situation because of their marital circumstances, Matthew 19:10-12,

Matthew 19:10–12

but some people choose it. And we shouldn't try to thrust marriage on

them as if they're second-class citizens, because Paul is actually saying here

There is a spiritual advantage to being a single Christian

and being able to fully devote yourself to the Lord. Can you think about people

in the Bible who were faithful servants of God and maybe in an

extraordinary way because they were single? Who do you think of in the Bible?

This person was single, and as a result of this, they were able to fully

dedicate themselves to the Lord. This isn't hard. Paul,

for one. That's a freebie. Yeah, Paul, for one. In 1 Corinthians 7:7,

1 Corinthians 7:7

he says, I wish everybody was like me. Sometimes married people want to be like

Paul. Paul could travel the whole world, do 3 missionary journeys, wrote 13

books and did all this stuff because Paul wasn't what? Paul wasn't married.

Wasn't a Miss Paul sitting at home. So Paul just goes to Ephesus. They throw

rocks at him and he just goes over to Corinth. Paul was single and

he was able to do great things. Anybody else?

Who said Anna? Luke 2. Yeah, Anna. That's right. She served in

the temple. Night and day. You know why she was able to devote herself to

that? Luke chapter 2. Because she was what? She was single.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

In Jeremiah 16:1-2, God tells Jeremiah, do not get

Jeremiah 16:1–2

married to anybody in this city. Don't marry anybody in this town. You're going into

captivity. Jeremiah, I want you to remain single. He wrote the book of Jeremiah,

Lamentations, preached for maybe about 5 decades, and he was able

to do it faithfully in very difficult— talk about distressing times— Jeremiah

was able to do it because he was single. And y'all are

leaving this one on the table, I can't believe it, but there is somebody named

Jesus Christ who never got married and was able to fully dedicate

himself to the Lord as a result of being single.

And so there are benefits. Again, nothing wrong with being married, but Paul's

saying, in view of the present distress, you can fully devote yourself to

the Lord if you're not already engaged in a relationship. And then in verse 35,

this is his whole purpose. He says, I say this for your benefit,

not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure

your undivided devotion to the Lord. And you can circle and underline that phrase,

'cause that's really what Paul's after. And he says it earlier in verse 32,

I want you to be free from anxieties. Paul's setting up a situation

in view of these marital questions he's received that says, I want you to do

the thing that's going to help you serve the Lord without distraction.

And you can just plug yourself into one of these circumstances And wherever you

find yourself, Paul says, hey, if you're burning with passion and lust is going to

eat you up and get the best of you, you should get married because you

need to be able to take care of that and then to the best of

your ability serve the Lord without distraction. And he's saying the same thing here to

single people, and he'll say the same thing to widows. Let's finish this out.

In 36 through 38, he just reiterates that this is a choice.

If anyone thinks he's not behaving properly toward his betrothed or

his virgin, And if his passions are strong,

and it has to be, let him do as he wishes. Let them marry.

It's no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart,

being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has

determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.

So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage

will do even better. Again, Paul's saying, it's up to you. It's a choice.

I've given you my opinion. Paul's given a heavy-handed opinion, but he's still

leaving it up to the individuals. And the last thing he says in verses 39

and 40 deal with widows. A wife is bound to her husband as long

as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is free to be married to

whom she wishes, only in the Lord. So that's Romans 7:1-6,

Romans 7:1–6

where Paul says you're bound to your mate as long as you live,

but if they're dead, you're free to be married to whoever you will. Just as

a marker, I know some people weren't here last week. Go back and watch Neil's

class. He kind of combed through 1 Corinthians 7 in great detail and good

effectiveness. The major thrust about marriage in 1 Corinthians 7,

no matter what anybody says or what you read, is people that are married

need to do what? Stay married. He says that at the beginning, and he circles

back to it here. You're bound to your husband as long as he lives,

but if he dies, she's free to be married to whom she wishes, only in

the Lord. Yet in my judgment, Paul says, she's happier if she remains

as she is, and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

So He says if a person's spouse dies,

they're widowed, I would prefer them to stay single, but if they get married,

they have to marry only where? Only in the Lord.

There's 2 ideas on what only in the Lord means. Some people think it means

only marry a Christian, somebody who's already in the Lord, and sometimes

the New Testament uses the phrase that way. Some people think only in the

Lord means marry an eligible person, and sometimes the New Testament

uses the phrase that way too. Marry somebody based on the Lord's command.

Yes. Thanks, Mike.

Yeah,

okay, that's a great point. It's a great point. So Miss Doris says basically one

time there was a preacher in a gospel meeting who dealt with this only in

the Lord and said that you can marry somebody who's not a Christian because sometimes

the phrase only in the Lord applies more broadly than just Christians. For example,

Ephesians 6:1-2. If you had parents that weren't Christians,

Ephesians 6:1–2

Paul says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this

is right. That wouldn't mean, hey, if my parents are non-Christians, I don't have to

obey them. And I think that's a great interpretation of the passage. Again, sometimes the

phrase in the Lord deals with as God wants you to. Colossians 3:17,

Colossians 3:17

do things according to the Lord's will. And sometimes it means specifically

in Christ as a Christian. Either way, whatever you make of that, Paul's saying

If you choose to marry after you've already had a spouse and they've died,

you have God's permission to do so. Don't feel guilty about it,

okay? And just go on with it. Side note, I'm going to say this and

move on. Sometimes this comes up in like qualifications for elders and deacons,

by the way. People wonder about, well, a person has died and

I've been married, am I the husband of one wife? Paul says you've got God's

permission to be remarried. You can do it. It's a God-approved marriage and

you can move on. So widows can remarry. And you don't carry anything else

over with you. And Paul says that's his judgment. All right, any questions on 1

Corinthians 7? All right, great. I told

you, easy peasy. All right, 1 Corinthians 8. Paul changes subjects and

switches gears. And if you look at 1 Corinthians 8:1, this is another

1 Corinthians 8:1

one of those now concerning. What does that mean when you see now concerning in

1 Corinthians? The Corinthians asked Paul a Question,

and Paul's responding. Look at 1 Corinthians 8:1. He says,

1 Corinthians 8:1

now concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of us possess

knowledge. So we'll get into the text in a minute, but just know 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 8:1

8:1 starts a new section. Chapter 7, all about marriage.

These questions were about food that had been offered up to idols. And this

discussion, it starts here and it's going to run all the way through chapter 11.

Paul's going to talk about it in different ways, but it runs all the way

through chapter 11. Until you get to the next now concerning in chapter 12

and verse 1 that's dealing with spiritual gifts. So, this whole section runs through chapter

11 and deals with, can a Christian eat meat that's been sacrificed to an idol?

Before we get to the text, let me just say something about this issue,

because it was one of the greatest struggles in first-century Christianity,

the idea of food, idolatry, and idols' temples. So, Paul goes

to a city, let's take Corinth, Acts chapter 18, preaches the gospel,

Acts 18 · chapter mention

these people become Christians. Before they were Christians, they ate meals

like we did. But in the first century, and you could think about even Christians

and the Lord's Supper, a meal was a major and important event.

These pagan individuals would have this meat that they had eaten

that's been sacrificed to an idol. They'd offer part of it to an idol and

eat the rest of it as their meal. What the Corinthians want to know from

Paul is this: now that I'm a Christian, can I still

do that? Like, can I still sometimes go to an idol temple, and eat

this meat that's been sacrificed to an idol? That's one question.

Another one of the questions is though, let's just say I go to the Corinthian

Kroger and I get some meat there. Can I buy this

meat when I know part of it before it was placed here had previously

been sacrificed to an idol? Like, does the meat still carry like idol cooties with

it? Do I— can I still eat it even though it's long gone?

That's another question. What about my influence?

Like, what if somebody sees me eating this meat? I mean, first,

a Christian, another Christian that used to worship idols with me. And what

about non-Christians? Are they going to think that I worship idols if I eat it?

And then people thought, but what if I got knowledge, Paul?

What if I know, listen, it's just food. I mean, it really doesn't matter.

I can go in the temple and eat it. Everybody else may think they're worshiping

idols. I know that this is just— these are just baby back

ribs. It doesn't really matter to me. It's just food. Paul's gonna deal with all

of those questions because it's not just about whether you can do a thing.

Just because something isn't sinful doesn't mean it's sensible.

And that's what Paul's gonna drive at in these 3 chapters or 4 chapters really.

Just because something isn't sinful doesn't mean it's sensible and

he's gonna help us with it. But this is a modern problem as well as

an ancient one. So don't think, well, 1 Corinthians 8, 9, 10, and 11 is

dealing with them only back then with meat sacrificed to idols.

It's as modern as anything in the New Testament. What did we say

first class Neil taught, talking about 1 Corinthians? What's one of the major ideas

in 1 Corinthians? I mean, what have we titled this class? What's 1 Corinthians really

all about? I'm gonna start you off, okay?

Same mind, same judgment.

What does that mean? Same mind, same judgment. God's saying be what?

Starts with uni, ends with 5. Yeah, be unified.

Where did we get that? 1 Corinthians 1:10,

1 Corinthians 1:10

Paul says, I want you all to be of the same mind and of

the same judgment. But here's the question. Cumberland Trace is

a congregation of about, just counting Sunday morning, 400+ people.

Paul says, be of the same mind and the same judgment. So here's the question.

How can we, with all of our different opinions, be of

the same mind and same judgment and have the unity that Paul appeals through— appeals

to throughout 1 Corinthians? How can we do that?

Serve the Lord. Yes. Okay, serve the Lord. But we've got different opinions. And by

the way, everybody thinks their opinion is what?

That's why they hold it. I mean, they think that— and when you heard me

talk about those questions that Paul's dealing with and the meat that's been sacrificed to

idols, whatever you think about it as you're already running it through your mind,

you think it's the right view. And I could bring up some things. I'm not

going to do it yet, but I could bring up some things and you would

have a strong view And you would think my view is what?

Right. You would think your view is right. So the question is, how can you

be unified in a circumstance like that? See, if you say,

well, just all believe the Bible, everybody thinks they believe the Bible. What we mean

sometimes is what? Everybody needs to see it whose way? And that's never going

to give you unity. Kim. So someone's going to have to compromise.

Uh-oh. Yeah. How much

do we compromise? More on that in chapters 9, 10. Neil will talk about

some of that next week. We're going to start it off today, but that's right.

No, you hit the nail on the head. If we're going to be unified,

it won't do to say, well, we just need to follow the Bible. Well,

everybody's following the Bible, at least in our congregation that's trying to be faithful to

God. Well, we just need to do what the Scriptures say. What if the Scriptures

don't say? What if it's up to personal judgment? The only way to have unity,

the only way to have it in that circumstance we're going to have to practice

the principles of humility that Paul lays out in this chapter.

As far as— you're

married to one. I don't know how to help. I don't know what do you

want me to say to that? Yeah. Yeah. Well,

I'll say this on an aside about congregational matters since you brought that up.

In matters of judgment, and Paul's talking about individual, Paul's talking about your individual conscience,

and that's what he's dealing with in 8 through 10. But then there are congregational

matters of judgment, and that is where the elders rule. God says worship on the

first day of the week. What time? See, that's up to the local eldership.

So, in matters of judgment congregationally, God hasn't taken

a poll of everybody's opinion. He said these men are qualified, and if they are,

they're selected by the Holy Spirit, Acts chapter 20. And in matters of judgment for

Acts 20 · chapter mention

the congregation, yes, the elders make the decision. But what's going on in 1 Corinthians

8, 9, 10, and 11 are individual matters. Now, before we get

into the text, sometimes this comes up, and I just want to hit on this

quickly. Somebody says, okay, this is great, we're going to work through this. How do

I know if something's a matter of judgment though? Because see, there's matters of doctrine

and matters of judgment, and some people have things in the bucket of judgment that

other people have in the bucket of doctrine, and that causes an issue. So the

first thing we've got to get squared up on is how do I know if

something belongs in the bucket of, hey, this is personal judgment and we need to

work through the principles Paul puts in 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10 and 11

and Romans 14 and 15, or this belongs in the bucket

of doctrine and we don't get to choose and do our own thing. This may

not be perfect, but here's how I kind of see it. At least 4 steps

or ways to help you figure out, is something just a matter of personal preference

where God doesn't care what you decide? Number 1, something is in the

realm of judgment if God has said nothing about it. If God hasn't said how

you do a thing, then it's in the realm of judgment. God hadn't even said

anything about this. It's up to you. Number 2, if God hasn't specified

how you do something. So God says something about it, but he hadn't come along

and said, hey, you've got to do it this way. For example, Matthew 28:19,

Matthew 28:19

go into all the world and do what? Make what?

Disciples of all nations, teach and baptize. How do you go into all the world?

Can you do it on social media? Can you do it through YouTube

and the internet? Can you do it through written word, preaching, publication? See, God hadn't

specified. So to suggest, hey, you've got to go door knocking, man, that's the only

way to do it, that's how we did it in the '50s and '60s.

God hadn't done that. God said evangelize, but it's in the realm

of judgment how you carry it out because he hasn't specified. Number 3, if you

see something done 2 different ways in the Bible and both ways

are approved, that's in the realm of judgment. An example of that would

be the passages on the screen. In Acts 16:3, Paul circumcised

Acts 16:3

Timothy. In Galatians 2:3, he did not circumcise Titus.

Galatians 2:3

Different reasons in both cases, but there was a case where circumcision was

approved by God and another case where it was unapproved by God.

That lets you know it's in the realm of judgment. So if something's done 2

different ways in the Bible, both without condemnation, then that means it's

in the realm of judgment. And then number 4, if God actually says it's in

the realm of judgment, guess what? You think that's easy and

obvious, but not everybody gets with that. If God says it's in the realm of

judgment, like what we're going to talk about— food— you can't come up with your

own biblical diet and say, Now all the people that really love the Lord eat

this. If God says it's in the realm of judgment, then it's in the realm

of judgment. So here's the way I would work it through as far as the

4 ways to determine. And now let's look at the text. Any questions on that?

Yes, Bill, go ahead.

Yeah, in Romans 14, they talked about eating meat,

celebrating holidays, that type of thing, and the weaker,

stronger brother. And I

think The major thing in there is if you do it, do it between you

and the Lord. Don't make your brother

weak because of that. And of course, the weaker, stronger brother can be

an issue too. Yeah, you do it between you and the Lord. I don't see

a problem personally. I think that's what you're saying. Okay. Yeah, so Bill talks about

Romans 14, and Romans 14 and 15 is very similar to what we're reading here,

but it's different in some ways. In Romans 14 and 15, it appears Paul's

dealing with The same principles are there, but Paul's dealing with maybe vegetarian,

like to eat meat or not eat meat, but he doesn't say anything about something

sacrificed to idols. But Bill says, hey, the principle really is in this

circumstance, if you do something, do it privately

to yourself and don't put it in your brother's face and then you'll be fine.

That's true. But I think Paul's going to talk about some things that make it

even a little bit more complex, at least in what if you've got to go

in public to get the meat and all of that. But there are some principles

from Romans 14 that'll definitely help us. Let's read Romans— 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 8:1–3

8:1-3. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3. Now concerning food

1 Corinthians 8:1–3

offered to idols, we know that all of us possess knowledge. This knowledge

puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he

knows something, he does not know yet as he ought to know. But if anyone

loves God, he is known by God. So first, Paul talks about the danger

of knowledge. He says, now concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of

us possess knowledge. So the Corinthians, they had knowledge, and then he says knowledge

does what? Puffs up, but love builds up.

How can knowledge be deadly? How does knowledge puff a person up? How does

it inflate a person? You might think you're better than somebody

else. Yep. What else?

Harry, I think I'm going to go do it regardless. Yeah, and maybe your Bible

doesn't have this, but there might be some Bibles that have this phrase kind of

in quotes. All of us possess knowledge. Some of the Corinthians, it seems, were saying,

look, Paul, you don't have to give us this talk about eating meat sacrificed to

idols. We've got the knowledge. We know some things. We know— what do

you think they know about idols? What is he saying here? All of us concerning

food sacrificed to idols, all of us have knowledge. What do you think they have

knowledge about? That idols are nothing.

Yeah, this is Psalm 115:4-8. The idols of the heathens

Psalms 115:4–8

are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. It really is nothing. And Paul

says that kind of knowledge will puff you up and you'll start thinking,

hey, because I know some things factually, I can do as Harry

said, whatever I want. And it really isn't a big deal. Not thinking about anybody

else, just thinking about yourself. How does God view proud people

throughout scripture? You can think about some of the things he says,

like in James 4:10, God resists the proud. He does battle

James 4:10

against the proud person, but he exalts individuals that are humble. So Paul says knowledge

will puff you up. But he says in verses 2 and 3, if anyone imagines

that he knows something, he doesn't yet know it as he ought to know.

But if anyone loves God, he's known by God. Verse 2, if anyone knows

something or imagines he knows something, if you think, hey, I've got this grand

knowledge, especially about meat sacrificed to idols, I can eat it, it's no problem.

He says, if you think you know every nuance of this and you got it

figured out, that's proof that you don't. Because the only person that knows

everything is who? God. And Paul's saying you need

to humble yourself. Romans 16 and verse 27, at the end of Romans,

Paul says, to the only wise God— only God has all knowledge—

and he says the moment you start thinking I've got perfect knowledge of something and

therefore I'm off to the races to do as I please, he says your thinking's

already warped. But in verse 3, if anyone does what?

Loves God, he's known by God. Here's the key in matters of judgment. Do you

love God? See, in matters of judgment, it's not just about

who knows the most. Sometimes we think it's all about, and you can put this

in quotes, the knowledge. It's all about the knowledge. Who knows the most?

Who's got the facts? Who's going to bring their case? And who's going to present

the most convincing argument? But Paul says, if you actually lead with love,

then you know you're known by God. God's not really interested in who's the

smartest person in the church, because guess what? God's smarter than everybody in the church.

God's actually concerned with, I want to see how much you

love one another. What did Kim say we're going to have to do in matters

of judgment? Somebody's going to have to do what? Somebody's going to have to compromise.

And maybe not compromise your conviction, but you may have to compromise the

exercise of those convictions and how you go about doing it. And the only

way you can do that is if you have what? If you have love.

And in matters of judgment, everybody thinks their way is right, and they start

building their case, and they start laying it out, and And Paul says, you are

on the road to destruction because you've forgotten the first principle of Christianity.

What does Paul say? The aim of our conduct, 1 Timothy 1:5,

1 Timothy 1:5

is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

It's not just about the knowledge. He says, but here's the truth about

idols. Look at 4-6. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to

idols, we know that an idol has no real existence and that

there is no God but one. For although there be so-called gods

in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom

are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom

are all things and through whom we exist. Here Paul's agreeing with these people that

have the knowledge, okay? There's 2 groups. One group says, we've got knowledge, we can

do whatever we want. Paul says, we all know this. What do we know about

God? There's one God. We know the idols are really what?

Nothing. They don't really— they're a figment of people's imagination. They possess

no real power. In verse 6, where he says, for us there's

one God the Father, of whom are all things, one Lord through whom we exist.

This is like Ephesians 4:4-6. One Lord, one faith,

Ephesians 4:4–6

one baptism, one God and Father. Paul says we got all

of that, but that's not all of it. And then in verse 7, he makes

this great contrast. Look at verse 7. However, not all possess this knowledge.

But some, through former association with the idols, eat food as really

offered to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled.

So in verse 7, when he says not all possess this knowledge, who is he

talking about? Who doesn't have this knowledge about the

idols? Who is he talking about? Not all have this knowledge. He's already said,

hey, we know idols are nothing. There are many gods,

lowercase g, many lords in the world. People follow that stuff, but we

know there's one God in heaven, his Son Jesus Christ, But not everybody

has this knowledge. Who is he talking about, Andy?

Some people where though? Some of these Christians in the

church still thought what? The idols had what? Some kind of power or significance.

Paul says not everybody has this knowledge. If that was you or if

that was this group, just think about a group over here, what do they need

if they still think the idols have power? What do they need?

You might think they need knowledge, and Paul says that's the wrong answer.

They don't need knowledge. They need something else. What do they need?

They need love. They need your love. Remember this,

in matters of judgment, Romans 14 and 15 and 1 Corinthians 8

through 10, Paul never tells you to try to change anybody's mind. He says,

change your approach and your perspective. These people don't need a Bible

study. They think, hey, when I see this meat that's been offered to an idol,

hey, I think that's still real, man. I can't go in there.

Think about a person in their mind. I was going to give you some of

these later. Just take one example. Some people may have former association with

the place. Every Friday night I got drunk at Chili's. In their mind, when they

see Chili's, what do they think about? Every Friday night they got drunk at Chili's.

You know what they need from you? They don't need you to study the Bible

with them and show them, hey, they serve ribs and chicken and bread. They don't

need that. You know what they need from you? Hey, we'll just go to Drake's.

Hey, we'll go somewhere else. We'll go wherever. We need love. The person

that doesn't have this knowledge, doesn't need you to increase their knowledge.

They need you to increase your love and compassion for them. And that's what Paul's

saying. Not everybody has this knowledge, but some with former association

with the idols, they still see it as that. And if you're so knowledgeable,

that should be motivating you in how you behave. Look at verse 8.

He says, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if

we don't eat and no better off if we do. That's the key in matters

of judgment. Who's right in this circumstance?

Who's right, the people that are eating the meat or the people that won't?

Look at verse 8. What does Paul say? Because what?

There are some things, and I say this loosely, there are some things God

doesn't care about. They're in the realm of indifference. Food doesn't make you better or

worse. And you can start working through practical, like, modern-day matters

of judgment and think about the various things. Listen, most churches do

not divide over doctrine. There are some, yes, But most

church splits happen over differences, and it's not doctrine.

And it's because somebody thought their view was going to get them closer to God,

and everybody who sees it their way is really going to heaven, and everybody else

is not. There are doctrinal matters. The slide before this one, there's that bucket,

can't compromise. But then there are some differences, and what Paul's driving

at, you need verse 8, neither one of them makes you any

closer to God. You can think about issues presently in the church that people have

their strong opinions on, And Paul would show up and say, you know, God doesn't

really care either way. Like, you can write 100 articles, you can try to convince

people of your way, but at the end of the day, eating meat won't commend

you to God. And plug in whatever modern-day matter of judgment you think. This Bible

translation won't make you closer to God, neither will this one. This activity,

it won't make you any closer to God because it's in the realm of judgment.

It's not a heaven or hell thing, it's a personal conviction thing. And then

9 and 10, he says, but Take care that this right of yours does not

somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have

knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged if his conscience is

weak to eat the food offered to idols? And let's just finish it in verses

11 through 13. And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed,

the brother for whom Christ died. Thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience

when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother to

stumble, I'll never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble. Go back up to

verse 9. He says it doesn't really matter, but then in verse 9

he says, take care that this right of yours doesn't become a what? A stumbling

block. How serious is Jesus about you and

me putting a stumbling block in front of another Christian? Very serious.

Very. Go to Matthew 18. In Matthew 18, when Jesus

talked about stumbling blocks, he used the strongest language I

think Jesus used anywhere in the gospel to talk about how a

person will be condemned. Jesus talks about condemnation a lot. He never

did it as illustrious as this and as direct and as violent

as he talks about it in Matthew 18 and what would happen to a person

for causing somebody to stumble. I'm in Matthew 18 and look at verse 5.

Whoever receives one such child in my name, he's talking about young children,

receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe

in me to sin, that's not the children, these are like converts. Whoever causes one

of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for

him to have a— what? Millstone fastened around his

neck and— You never find Jesus talking

like that about anything else in all the New Testament. He says, if you cause

another Christian to stumble, you would be better off tying a millstone around

your neck, drowning yourself in the depths of the sea, than to meet me in

judgment. You think Jesus is serious about us putting stumbling blocks in front of each

other and dividing over, hey, this is just the way it's got to be.

And if you really love Jesus, you'll see it my way. Or I've got the

knowledge and I'm doing this. I don't care if it offends you or not.

It's going to be my way. Kim said, how do we solve it? Somebody has

to what? We better be racing to the compromise

because Jesus says, if you meet me with this spirit

of, yeah, I know 50 people fell away because I did what I wanted to

do, but hey, the Bible didn't say I couldn't. I had plenty of grounds and

rights. Jesus says, it's going to be terrible for you. Because he's serious

about people that are following him. He doesn't want us to put a stumbling block

in their way. Go to Romans 14. Bill mentioned Romans 14 earlier,

and Paul in Romans 14, dealing with similar stuff, though not identical,

does say some things about this idea of being a stumbling

block. Romans 14, and notice several times Paul

mentions this. Hey, don't put a stumbling block in the

way of a brother. In Romans 14, look at verse 13.

Therefore, let us not pass judgment. Romans 14:13,

Romans 14:13

let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide

never to do what? Don't put a stumbling block or a hindrance in the way

of another. Look at verse 20, Romans 14:20, do not for

Romans 14:20

the sake of food destroy the work of God. Everything is

indeed clean, but it's wrong for anyone to make another person stumble

by what he eats. Don't be a scandal. That's this Greek word

skandalon. Don't cause anybody to trip up. Because you just had to do it your

way. Now go back to 1 Corinthians 8. I've got a question. In verse

8, Paul says it doesn't matter to God. He says it's just food.

But then in verse, um, verse 11, he says— or

verse 12, actually. So verse 8, it doesn't matter. But then in verse 12,

he says you've sinned against your brother and you sinned against Christ.

Here's my question: how did we go from verse 8 where, hey,

God doesn't care either way, to now all of a sudden there's sin?

How? I thought Paul said it didn't matter. How is it sinful now?

What was that? It matters to you? Yes, but how does my choice

become sinful? If you cause a stumbling block,

what once didn't matter, now it matters, and you do sin against Christ when you

do it. Verse 13 is Paul's approach to this. He says,

therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I'll never eat meat again lest

I cause my brother to stumble. Paul says, I've got the same knowledge y'all do.

I know it's just food, but if another Christian's gonna have a problem with

it, Paul says, I just assume not do it, then cause a

brother or sister to stumble. Because he says in verse 11, this is

the brother for whom Christ died. And that's driving and motivating what

Paul says. All right, so let me just give you this and then make

some practical application from 1 Corinthians 8 and we'll be done. And I've given this

before, especially to like high school, college class, but principles for engaging in actions

as a Christian. How do I get to decide if I want to do something?

Number 1, if the Bible says it's sinful, you should abstain. So step

number 1 in activities is if it's sinful, you can't do it.

The Bible says this is a sin, that's an easy you can't do it.

And you could look at those passages that deal with the works of the flesh

on that. But what if it's not sinful? Can I do it? Well, there's a

second step. Don't violate your conscience. If it violates your

conscience, like God doesn't say thou shalt not, but if your conscience is saying thou

shalt not, you can't violate your conscience because you're going to need that later.

And if you start doing damage to the conscience, it won't work the way that

it should. So the first 2 hurdles is, does God condemn this? Nope, take a

step if you want to. Does my conscience condemn it? Yep, then you can't do

it. But what if you get past your conscience? Number 3, don't cause another Christian

to stumble. If the way I'm going to do this will cause somebody else

to have a problem, even if it doesn't violate my conscience, even if God says,

hey, it's not going to be a problem with me, you can't do it.

And then number 4, is this going to ruin my influence with outsiders?

If you cross all of those hurdles, then you can engage in something. But these

are the kinds of questions that should be in our mind. Now, somebody's probably thinking,

and you're right, yeah, but what about things done in private? Amen. Have at

it if you can pass these, these tests. But if it's done in public and

if these things are going to come into contact, then you need to be thinking

about it because God's going to take it seriously. Last thing,

here's the takeaways from 1 Corinthians 8, and then class is yours. Number 1,

knowledge can be helpful, but it also can be harmful.

If our knowledge of scripture leads us to think we can do whatever we want

no matter who it affects or offends, we've used knowledge the wrong way.

Bible knowledge is not about, hey, how smart can I be?

It's supposed to motivate us to be servant-hearted. Number 2,

just because you can doesn't mean you can or you should.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean— hey, the Bible doesn't say this is

a sin. A lot of people are looking for everything in black and white.

God Give me a list of all the sins. And the first hurdle they think

about is only that first one on that list. If the Bible doesn't say it's

sinful, I'm doing it. But that's not all that the Bible says. Just because you

can doesn't mean you should. What does Jesus say? If you're going to come after

me, deny who? That means something. Even in these personal matters

of judgment. Number 3, not everyone is on the same spiritual level, and that's okay.

In matters of judgment, you're not trying to get other people to see it your

way. You're trying to see it their way and then say, okay, What can I

do to compromise and maintain harmony in the body of Christ? Because that's more important

than being right. Harmony in the church is more important than you being

right about what you think. Number 4, some things just

don't matter to God. Some things are matters of indifference, and you can raise

a big storm about them, but God's going to say, you know,

people practicing it this way, they're going to heaven, and people practicing it that way

are going to heaven, but you might go to hell by the way

that you're handling the circumstance. And it won't be because of the issue. It won't

be because of the doctrinal position you held. It'll be how you held the position.

Number 5, causing a brother to stumble is equal to sinning against

Christ. If you cause somebody else to stumble, Paul didn't just say you sinned.

He says you actually sinned against Christ, and you don't want

to meet Christ in that circumstance. Paul's not done talking about this. There's some more

nuance, but this is how he starts it in 1 Corinthians 8, by talking about

whether we should abstain or rather we should offend. And we should abstain

rather than offend. We don't want to cause anybody to stumble. In 1 Corinthians 9,

10, and 11, Paul's going to continue the conversation and talk about different circumstances.

And what should you do if you go to somebody's house and they've already offered

this meetup? What do you do then? What if somebody sees you and you're in

an idol's temple? And what about personal issues and choices and rights?

And what if I have a right to do something? And that'll be in chapters

9 and 10. But thanks for a good Bible class and appreciate you listening and

your participation.