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"A Study of 1 Corinthians" by Hiram Kemp - Part 6 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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I don't know if this works, but now it is. All right, good morning.
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If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn it to 1 Corinthians 7.
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Today we're going to try to get through the end of 1 Corinthians 7 and
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then 1 Corinthians chapter 8. But good to see everybody here, and good
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to see everybody back that went away on fall break. Appreciate everybody being here.
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Congratulations to Neil and Kathy and Jack and Cherie, and also Dale
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and Janelle on a newborn baby and grandbaby. I know they're excited about that,
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and we're excited for them. And thankful that you braved the conditions, come out
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in this mist or this rain. I don't know what you want to call it,
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but I'm glad you're here. Last week, Neil dealt with most of 1 Corinthians
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7, and in 1 Corinthians 7, a great deal of what Paul talks about there
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is marital intimacy and how that relationship works. And then he
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talks about various circumstances related to marriage. So Paul
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will talk about what a Christian should do in the case that they're married to
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a non-Christian, and how should that work, and what God expects them to do in
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that situation. But he also talks about what a person should do
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in the case of desertion, if their spouse leaves them. And he says, hey,
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you're not a slave in that condition. He doesn't say get remarried, but he says
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you're not under bondage. And then at the end of 1 Corinthians 7, we'll look
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today at verses 25 through 40. Paul deals with one more
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circumstance in relation to marriage— well, really 2 more. He deals with widows,
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that is virgins, those that have never been married. And then he's going to talk
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about individuals that are widows who were married but their spouses died, and he'll talk
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about how to proceed and go forward from there. And 1 Corinthians 7:25-40,
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this section is pretty straightforward. I don't see us having a lot of issues with
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it, but sometimes when you say that, people have a lot of issues with it.
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But we'll see. But we also make some application that
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Paul makes as we work through this section. 1 Corinthians 7, if you notice verse
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25, this is another one of those now concerning. So he says, now concerning
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the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my
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judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. So he's
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going to talk to these widows and to these virgins about their circumstance, and he
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says, now concerning. So every time you see the phrase now concerning in 1 Corinthians,
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it's typically in response to a question the Corinthians had asked
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Paul. And this is a second question in relation to the ones he's already dealt
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with in marriage. And here's what he says: I don't have a command from the
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Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
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So what Paul's going to say in the rest of this section isn't actually commanded,
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you ought to do this or that. He's saying Jesus didn't speak to these circumstances
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in his earthly ministry. As an inspired apostle, here's my advice
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on how you ought to proceed in these circumstances. And in verse 26, he says,
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I think that in view of the present distress, it's good for a person
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to remain as he is. And so, he's going to work through how
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he thinks people ought to behave and remain based on their circumstances. But in
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verse 26, everything that Paul says in the rest of this section is
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driven by what's called in verse 26, the present distress.
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We don't know what that was. Some people think it's persecution. Some people think maybe
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there was a famine like in Acts 11 and verse 28. But we just know
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that there was something going on with the Corinthians, and because of that, Paul felt
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like in these circumstances you shouldn't get married. Or if
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you're married, just stay in the present circumstance you find yourself in,
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but don't complicate matters in your life by getting into new relationships and
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so on and so forth. It could be a host of different things that are
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taking place. Commentators have guessed at what it might be, but nobody
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really knows for sure. But you can think of some passages like Acts 14:22.
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It says, we through many tribulations must enter the kingdom of God.
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So, in the first century church, there were always these different issues coming up,
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but there seemed to be an impending and present difficulty that
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was peculiar to the Corinthians. And Paul's saying, in light of this, I know
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you've asked me some questions about virgins who've never married and about
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widows. And I'm giving you my perspective, Paul is saying, in that case,
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I would leave things as they are. And in verses 27 through 28, he says,
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he elaborates, are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be free.
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Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do
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marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned.
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Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare
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you that. So, in verse 27 and 28, again, what is Paul telling them that
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they should do? Stay what? Stay as they are. But something not
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to miss here. What does Paul tell them in verse 28? But if you do
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what? If you do marry, you haven't what?
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Why not? What was that?
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It's a matter of judgment. And earlier Paul had already said, if you go back
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up to 1 Corinthians 7:6-9, it's better to marry than to burn with passion.
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Just as a side note, what Paul's doing in this section is a great
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precursor for what's gonna come up about matters of judgment in chapters 8 through 10.
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Paul's modeling what he'll later teach about, hey, just because
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you have a strong opinion about something doesn't mean that everybody has to get
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in line. Paul's already given his judgment. If you go back up to verse 7
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in this chapter, Paul says, I wish everybody was just like me
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without a spouse. He says, I would tell you in view of the present distress,
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don't get married, don't complicate matters. However, if you marry,
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you haven't sinned because you have the biblical right from God. It's a
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matter of judgment. It's your own choice. And then he says, I'm telling you
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this, in verse 28, because I want you to be free from worldly cares.
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Look at verse 28 down through verse 31. But if you
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do marry, you have not sinned. And if a betrothed
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woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly
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troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed
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time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live
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as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning,
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and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy
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as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as
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if they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is
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passing away. So, in summary, some people think Paul believes the
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end of the world is coming. I'm not sure that that's what Paul's saying.
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I think Paul's just saying whatever the Corinthians were facing, again, a present
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distress unknown to us, he's saying in view of this impending hardship
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and difficulty that's coming, you want to be as free as you possibly
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could be from worldly cares and things that will complicate your
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life and make it harder. Can you think of any other text where a similar
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thing like this is said? Like, hey, difficulty's coming, so you really
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don't want to be caught up in anything so you can be free to focus
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on what's ahead. Yeah, the destruction of Jerusalem.
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Think Mark 13, Matthew 24. Jesus says, hey, when the destruction
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of Jerusalem comes, you really hope it's not on the Sabbath day. You hope that
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a person's not pregnant. The gates will be open. You can go about and do
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your own thing. Paul's saying that same thing here. Marriage isn't bad.
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Paul's already said this earlier in the chapter, but here he's arguing
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for, hey, remain single if you can because difficulty's on the
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horizon. All right, next he goes into the differences
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between people that are married and that are not. So he's already said because of
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the present distress, but now he gets specific about the difference between married people
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and single and why he would say in view of the present distress, don't get
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married if you can help it. Verses 32 through 34, I want you to be
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free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord,
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how to please the Lord. The married man is anxious about worldly
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things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.
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And the unmarried or the betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord,
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how to be holy in body and in spirit. But the married woman is anxious
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about things of the world, how to please her husband. And I really don't like
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anxious there. It's probably better like concerned about, and some translations have that. The ESV
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goes with anxious. Paul's just saying, if you're single,
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your primary focus, you're concerned about who?
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The Lord. And if you're married, you're concerned about?
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And the Lord. So he says, hey, your interests are divided. And so again,
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you can see his reasoning on why he's making the case he's making. Now let's
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get practical. What does this tell you that Paul thinks about marriage?
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What does this tell you that Paul is saying to you if you're a married
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person? Just parenthetically, what does he say about your relationship to the
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Lord and about spiritual things that would be helpful for you if you're married.
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What does Paul just assume in this text? If you're married,
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what?
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Well, yeah, yeah. So Amanda says you're focusing on your spouse and
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not the Lord. Sometimes it's a distraction. I don't know that it would be completely
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a distraction in the negative sense, but I think he's saying if you're married,
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God expects that you're going to be concerned and give attention to who or to
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what? To your spouse. Sometimes we get into this conundrum.
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It's like, well, should I do like family stuff or
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church work? And according to the Bible, family stuff is church work because
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God's given you a family. And Paul assumes that, hey, if you're a married
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person, it's just inevitable you're going to be worried about the things of your spouse.
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You should be. To not be would be the unbiblical response because
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the New Testament repeatedly emphasizes this. So you can think about Ephesians
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5:25-32 or Colossians 3:18-19.
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God would not want you to— I know a man, a great man.
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He's in his 80s now. He's a faithful Christian. He lives in Florida,
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but he's told me this story several times that when he was coming
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up in business, was very successful, did well,
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he really wanted to be sacrificial in his giving. And he was, I mean,
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over and abundantly so, but to a great
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fault to his family. And they grew up to be bitter toward him and toward
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the church as a result. Nothing was wrong with being benevolent and kind
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and gracious to the church in his giving, but to starve out
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your family in this view of, I'm going to be this zealous Christian for God,
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we'll just be these sort of paupers financially because I really love
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the Lord, is not what God expects you to do. If you're ever juggling that,
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like, what does God want me to do? I mean, be faithful to him or
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care about my family? The answer is yes. Do both. And Paul
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assumes that that's the case. The married person is anxious or concerned
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about the things of their spouse. Is there anything wrong with that? No. And sometimes
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to be a good spouse and be what God would have you to be— Amanda
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used the word distraction, but I think sometimes you've got to say no to certain
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even church activities and functions in the sense of don't overextend
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yourself because you've got concerns that God's given you
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and that God wants you to carry out. Now, on the other side of that,
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what does Paul say about single people here? What does this tell you Paul thinks
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about people that are single? Stay single,
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yes, but in 32 and 34, what is the single person concerned about?
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Things of God, which means what? They've got
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more time for spiritual endeavors. And to me, this says several things. Number one,
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the height of somebody's spiritual life— sometimes we think like, well, we really
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don't want to put too much on a person in their 20s or late teen
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years, early 30s if they're not married yet. Paul says this is the prime of
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life to actually serve the Lord because guess what? You don't have anything
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else intruding on your time. You can give yourself fully to
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the work of the Lord. And Paul says that's exactly what God would expect you
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to do. But the second thing is this: as Christians, we probably should not look
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at all single people as kind of spiritually defective. And we
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sometimes think— you see a person, they're single, late 20s, early 30s,
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what do we always want to ask them? When are you what? When you get
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married. As if what? That's a part of the package deal. Hear, believe,
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repent, confess, be baptized, and get— that's not in the book though.
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And Paul says sometimes you can be of great service and benefit to
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the Lord by being single. And yes, some people
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are in this situation because of their marital circumstances, Matthew 19:10-12,
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but some people choose it. And we shouldn't try to thrust marriage on
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them as if they're second-class citizens, because Paul is actually saying here
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There is a spiritual advantage to being a single Christian
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and being able to fully devote yourself to the Lord. Can you think about people
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in the Bible who were faithful servants of God and maybe in an
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extraordinary way because they were single? Who do you think of in the Bible?
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This person was single, and as a result of this, they were able to fully
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dedicate themselves to the Lord. This isn't hard. Paul,
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for one. That's a freebie. Yeah, Paul, for one. In 1 Corinthians 7:7,
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he says, I wish everybody was like me. Sometimes married people want to be like
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Paul. Paul could travel the whole world, do 3 missionary journeys, wrote 13
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books and did all this stuff because Paul wasn't what? Paul wasn't married.
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Wasn't a Miss Paul sitting at home. So Paul just goes to Ephesus. They throw
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rocks at him and he just goes over to Corinth. Paul was single and
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he was able to do great things. Anybody else?
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Who said Anna? Luke 2. Yeah, Anna. That's right. She served in
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the temple. Night and day. You know why she was able to devote herself to
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that? Luke chapter 2. Because she was what? She was single.
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In Jeremiah 16:1-2, God tells Jeremiah, do not get
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married to anybody in this city. Don't marry anybody in this town. You're going into
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captivity. Jeremiah, I want you to remain single. He wrote the book of Jeremiah,
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Lamentations, preached for maybe about 5 decades, and he was able
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to do it faithfully in very difficult— talk about distressing times— Jeremiah
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was able to do it because he was single. And y'all are
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leaving this one on the table, I can't believe it, but there is somebody named
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Jesus Christ who never got married and was able to fully dedicate
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himself to the Lord as a result of being single.
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And so there are benefits. Again, nothing wrong with being married, but Paul's
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saying, in view of the present distress, you can fully devote yourself to
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the Lord if you're not already engaged in a relationship. And then in verse 35,
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this is his whole purpose. He says, I say this for your benefit,
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not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure
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your undivided devotion to the Lord. And you can circle and underline that phrase,
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'cause that's really what Paul's after. And he says it earlier in verse 32,
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I want you to be free from anxieties. Paul's setting up a situation
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in view of these marital questions he's received that says, I want you to do
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the thing that's going to help you serve the Lord without distraction.
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And you can just plug yourself into one of these circumstances And wherever you
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find yourself, Paul says, hey, if you're burning with passion and lust is going to
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eat you up and get the best of you, you should get married because you
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need to be able to take care of that and then to the best of
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your ability serve the Lord without distraction. And he's saying the same thing here to
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single people, and he'll say the same thing to widows. Let's finish this out.
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In 36 through 38, he just reiterates that this is a choice.
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If anyone thinks he's not behaving properly toward his betrothed or
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his virgin, And if his passions are strong,
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and it has to be, let him do as he wishes. Let them marry.
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It's no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart,
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being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has
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determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.
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So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage
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will do even better. Again, Paul's saying, it's up to you. It's a choice.
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I've given you my opinion. Paul's given a heavy-handed opinion, but he's still
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leaving it up to the individuals. And the last thing he says in verses 39
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and 40 deal with widows. A wife is bound to her husband as long
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as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is free to be married to
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whom she wishes, only in the Lord. So that's Romans 7:1-6,
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where Paul says you're bound to your mate as long as you live,
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but if they're dead, you're free to be married to whoever you will. Just as
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a marker, I know some people weren't here last week. Go back and watch Neil's
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class. He kind of combed through 1 Corinthians 7 in great detail and good
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effectiveness. The major thrust about marriage in 1 Corinthians 7,
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no matter what anybody says or what you read, is people that are married
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need to do what? Stay married. He says that at the beginning, and he circles
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back to it here. You're bound to your husband as long as he lives,
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but if he dies, she's free to be married to whom she wishes, only in
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the Lord. Yet in my judgment, Paul says, she's happier if she remains
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as she is, and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
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So He says if a person's spouse dies,
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they're widowed, I would prefer them to stay single, but if they get married,
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they have to marry only where? Only in the Lord.
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There's 2 ideas on what only in the Lord means. Some people think it means
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only marry a Christian, somebody who's already in the Lord, and sometimes
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the New Testament uses the phrase that way. Some people think only in the
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Lord means marry an eligible person, and sometimes the New Testament
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uses the phrase that way too. Marry somebody based on the Lord's command.
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Yes. Thanks, Mike.
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Yeah,
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okay, that's a great point. It's a great point. So Miss Doris says basically one
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time there was a preacher in a gospel meeting who dealt with this only in
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the Lord and said that you can marry somebody who's not a Christian because sometimes
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the phrase only in the Lord applies more broadly than just Christians. For example,
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Ephesians 6:1-2. If you had parents that weren't Christians,
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Paul says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this
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is right. That wouldn't mean, hey, if my parents are non-Christians, I don't have to
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obey them. And I think that's a great interpretation of the passage. Again, sometimes the
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phrase in the Lord deals with as God wants you to. Colossians 3:17,
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do things according to the Lord's will. And sometimes it means specifically
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in Christ as a Christian. Either way, whatever you make of that, Paul's saying
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If you choose to marry after you've already had a spouse and they've died,
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you have God's permission to do so. Don't feel guilty about it,
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okay? And just go on with it. Side note, I'm going to say this and
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move on. Sometimes this comes up in like qualifications for elders and deacons,
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by the way. People wonder about, well, a person has died and
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I've been married, am I the husband of one wife? Paul says you've got God's
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permission to be remarried. You can do it. It's a God-approved marriage and
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you can move on. So widows can remarry. And you don't carry anything else
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over with you. And Paul says that's his judgment. All right, any questions on 1
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Corinthians 7? All right, great. I told
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you, easy peasy. All right, 1 Corinthians 8. Paul changes subjects and
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switches gears. And if you look at 1 Corinthians 8:1, this is another
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one of those now concerning. What does that mean when you see now concerning in
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1 Corinthians? The Corinthians asked Paul a Question,
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and Paul's responding. Look at 1 Corinthians 8:1. He says,
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now concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of us possess
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knowledge. So we'll get into the text in a minute, but just know 1 Corinthians
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8:1 starts a new section. Chapter 7, all about marriage.
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These questions were about food that had been offered up to idols. And this
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discussion, it starts here and it's going to run all the way through chapter 11.
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Paul's going to talk about it in different ways, but it runs all the way
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through chapter 11. Until you get to the next now concerning in chapter 12
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and verse 1 that's dealing with spiritual gifts. So, this whole section runs through chapter
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11 and deals with, can a Christian eat meat that's been sacrificed to an idol?
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Before we get to the text, let me just say something about this issue,
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because it was one of the greatest struggles in first-century Christianity,
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the idea of food, idolatry, and idols' temples. So, Paul goes
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to a city, let's take Corinth, Acts chapter 18, preaches the gospel,
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these people become Christians. Before they were Christians, they ate meals
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like we did. But in the first century, and you could think about even Christians
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and the Lord's Supper, a meal was a major and important event.
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These pagan individuals would have this meat that they had eaten
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that's been sacrificed to an idol. They'd offer part of it to an idol and
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eat the rest of it as their meal. What the Corinthians want to know from
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Paul is this: now that I'm a Christian, can I still
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do that? Like, can I still sometimes go to an idol temple, and eat
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this meat that's been sacrificed to an idol? That's one question.
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Another one of the questions is though, let's just say I go to the Corinthian
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Kroger and I get some meat there. Can I buy this
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meat when I know part of it before it was placed here had previously
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been sacrificed to an idol? Like, does the meat still carry like idol cooties with
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it? Do I— can I still eat it even though it's long gone?
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That's another question. What about my influence?
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Like, what if somebody sees me eating this meat? I mean, first,
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a Christian, another Christian that used to worship idols with me. And what
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about non-Christians? Are they going to think that I worship idols if I eat it?
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And then people thought, but what if I got knowledge, Paul?
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What if I know, listen, it's just food. I mean, it really doesn't matter.
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I can go in the temple and eat it. Everybody else may think they're worshiping
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idols. I know that this is just— these are just baby back
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ribs. It doesn't really matter to me. It's just food. Paul's gonna deal with all
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of those questions because it's not just about whether you can do a thing.
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Just because something isn't sinful doesn't mean it's sensible.
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And that's what Paul's gonna drive at in these 3 chapters or 4 chapters really.
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Just because something isn't sinful doesn't mean it's sensible and
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he's gonna help us with it. But this is a modern problem as well as
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an ancient one. So don't think, well, 1 Corinthians 8, 9, 10, and 11 is
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dealing with them only back then with meat sacrificed to idols.
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It's as modern as anything in the New Testament. What did we say
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first class Neil taught, talking about 1 Corinthians? What's one of the major ideas
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in 1 Corinthians? I mean, what have we titled this class? What's 1 Corinthians really
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all about? I'm gonna start you off, okay?
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Same mind, same judgment.
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What does that mean? Same mind, same judgment. God's saying be what?
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Starts with uni, ends with 5. Yeah, be unified.
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Where did we get that? 1 Corinthians 1:10,
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Paul says, I want you all to be of the same mind and of
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the same judgment. But here's the question. Cumberland Trace is
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a congregation of about, just counting Sunday morning, 400+ people.
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Paul says, be of the same mind and the same judgment. So here's the question.
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How can we, with all of our different opinions, be of
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the same mind and same judgment and have the unity that Paul appeals through— appeals
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to throughout 1 Corinthians? How can we do that?
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Serve the Lord. Yes. Okay, serve the Lord. But we've got different opinions. And by
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the way, everybody thinks their opinion is what?
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That's why they hold it. I mean, they think that— and when you heard me
21:46
talk about those questions that Paul's dealing with and the meat that's been sacrificed to
21:49
idols, whatever you think about it as you're already running it through your mind,
21:52
you think it's the right view. And I could bring up some things. I'm not
21:56
going to do it yet, but I could bring up some things and you would
21:59
have a strong view And you would think my view is what?
22:03
Right. You would think your view is right. So the question is, how can you
22:06
be unified in a circumstance like that? See, if you say,
22:10
well, just all believe the Bible, everybody thinks they believe the Bible. What we mean
22:14
sometimes is what? Everybody needs to see it whose way? And that's never going
22:18
to give you unity. Kim. So someone's going to have to compromise.
22:23
Uh-oh. Yeah. How much
22:27
do we compromise? More on that in chapters 9, 10. Neil will talk about
22:31
some of that next week. We're going to start it off today, but that's right.
22:34
No, you hit the nail on the head. If we're going to be unified,
22:36
it won't do to say, well, we just need to follow the Bible. Well,
22:39
everybody's following the Bible, at least in our congregation that's trying to be faithful to
22:43
God. Well, we just need to do what the Scriptures say. What if the Scriptures
22:46
don't say? What if it's up to personal judgment? The only way to have unity,
22:50
the only way to have it in that circumstance we're going to have to practice
22:54
the principles of humility that Paul lays out in this chapter.
22:58
As far as— you're
23:03
married to one. I don't know how to help. I don't know what do you
23:05
want me to say to that? Yeah. Yeah. Well,
23:08
I'll say this on an aside about congregational matters since you brought that up.
23:12
In matters of judgment, and Paul's talking about individual, Paul's talking about your individual conscience,
23:16
and that's what he's dealing with in 8 through 10. But then there are congregational
23:19
matters of judgment, and that is where the elders rule. God says worship on the
23:22
first day of the week. What time? See, that's up to the local eldership.
23:25
So, in matters of judgment congregationally, God hasn't taken
23:30
a poll of everybody's opinion. He said these men are qualified, and if they are,
23:33
they're selected by the Holy Spirit, Acts chapter 20. And in matters of judgment for
23:37
the congregation, yes, the elders make the decision. But what's going on in 1 Corinthians
23:41
8, 9, 10, and 11 are individual matters. Now, before we get
23:44
into the text, sometimes this comes up, and I just want to hit on this
23:48
quickly. Somebody says, okay, this is great, we're going to work through this. How do
23:51
I know if something's a matter of judgment though? Because see, there's matters of doctrine
23:55
and matters of judgment, and some people have things in the bucket of judgment that
23:59
other people have in the bucket of doctrine, and that causes an issue. So the
24:02
first thing we've got to get squared up on is how do I know if
24:05
something belongs in the bucket of, hey, this is personal judgment and we need to
24:09
work through the principles Paul puts in 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10 and 11
24:13
and Romans 14 and 15, or this belongs in the bucket
24:16
of doctrine and we don't get to choose and do our own thing. This may
24:20
not be perfect, but here's how I kind of see it. At least 4 steps
24:24
or ways to help you figure out, is something just a matter of personal preference
24:27
where God doesn't care what you decide? Number 1, something is in the
24:31
realm of judgment if God has said nothing about it. If God hasn't said how
24:35
you do a thing, then it's in the realm of judgment. God hadn't even said
24:39
anything about this. It's up to you. Number 2, if God hasn't specified
24:43
how you do something. So God says something about it, but he hadn't come along
24:47
and said, hey, you've got to do it this way. For example, Matthew 28:19,
24:51
go into all the world and do what? Make what?
24:55
Disciples of all nations, teach and baptize. How do you go into all the world?
24:59
Can you do it on social media? Can you do it through YouTube
25:04
and the internet? Can you do it through written word, preaching, publication? See, God hadn't
25:08
specified. So to suggest, hey, you've got to go door knocking, man, that's the only
25:11
way to do it, that's how we did it in the '50s and '60s.
25:13
God hadn't done that. God said evangelize, but it's in the realm
25:17
of judgment how you carry it out because he hasn't specified. Number 3, if you
25:21
see something done 2 different ways in the Bible and both ways
25:24
are approved, that's in the realm of judgment. An example of that would
25:28
be the passages on the screen. In Acts 16:3, Paul circumcised
25:33
Timothy. In Galatians 2:3, he did not circumcise Titus.
25:37
Different reasons in both cases, but there was a case where circumcision was
25:40
approved by God and another case where it was unapproved by God.
25:44
That lets you know it's in the realm of judgment. So if something's done 2
25:48
different ways in the Bible, both without condemnation, then that means it's
25:53
in the realm of judgment. And then number 4, if God actually says it's in
25:56
the realm of judgment, guess what? You think that's easy and
25:59
obvious, but not everybody gets with that. If God says it's in the realm of
26:03
judgment, like what we're going to talk about— food— you can't come up with your
26:06
own biblical diet and say, Now all the people that really love the Lord eat
26:09
this. If God says it's in the realm of judgment, then it's in the realm
26:13
of judgment. So here's the way I would work it through as far as the
26:15
4 ways to determine. And now let's look at the text. Any questions on that?
26:20
Yes, Bill, go ahead.
26:23
Yeah, in Romans 14, they talked about eating meat,
26:26
celebrating holidays, that type of thing, and the weaker,
26:29
stronger brother. And I
26:33
think The major thing in there is if you do it, do it between you
26:37
and the Lord. Don't make your brother
26:41
weak because of that. And of course, the weaker, stronger brother can be
26:45
an issue too. Yeah, you do it between you and the Lord. I don't see
26:49
a problem personally. I think that's what you're saying. Okay. Yeah, so Bill talks about
26:52
Romans 14, and Romans 14 and 15 is very similar to what we're reading here,
26:56
but it's different in some ways. In Romans 14 and 15, it appears Paul's
27:00
dealing with The same principles are there, but Paul's dealing with maybe vegetarian,
27:03
like to eat meat or not eat meat, but he doesn't say anything about something
27:07
sacrificed to idols. But Bill says, hey, the principle really is in this
27:10
circumstance, if you do something, do it privately
27:14
to yourself and don't put it in your brother's face and then you'll be fine.
27:17
That's true. But I think Paul's going to talk about some things that make it
27:21
even a little bit more complex, at least in what if you've got to go
27:23
in public to get the meat and all of that. But there are some principles
27:25
from Romans 14 that'll definitely help us. Let's read Romans— 1 Corinthians
27:29
8:1-3. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3. Now concerning food
27:33
offered to idols, we know that all of us possess knowledge. This knowledge
27:37
puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he
27:42
knows something, he does not know yet as he ought to know. But if anyone
27:45
loves God, he is known by God. So first, Paul talks about the danger
27:49
of knowledge. He says, now concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of
27:53
us possess knowledge. So the Corinthians, they had knowledge, and then he says knowledge
27:57
does what? Puffs up, but love builds up.
28:00
How can knowledge be deadly? How does knowledge puff a person up? How does
28:04
it inflate a person? You might think you're better than somebody
28:08
else. Yep. What else?
28:11
Harry, I think I'm going to go do it regardless. Yeah, and maybe your Bible
28:15
doesn't have this, but there might be some Bibles that have this phrase kind of
28:17
in quotes. All of us possess knowledge. Some of the Corinthians, it seems, were saying,
28:21
look, Paul, you don't have to give us this talk about eating meat sacrificed to
28:25
idols. We've got the knowledge. We know some things. We know— what do
28:29
you think they know about idols? What is he saying here? All of us concerning
28:32
food sacrificed to idols, all of us have knowledge. What do you think they have
28:35
knowledge about? That idols are nothing.
28:38
Yeah, this is Psalm 115:4-8. The idols of the heathens
28:43
are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. It really is nothing. And Paul
28:46
says that kind of knowledge will puff you up and you'll start thinking,
28:49
hey, because I know some things factually, I can do as Harry
28:53
said, whatever I want. And it really isn't a big deal. Not thinking about anybody
28:57
else, just thinking about yourself. How does God view proud people
29:01
throughout scripture? You can think about some of the things he says,
29:04
like in James 4:10, God resists the proud. He does battle
29:08
against the proud person, but he exalts individuals that are humble. So Paul says knowledge
29:12
will puff you up. But he says in verses 2 and 3, if anyone imagines
29:16
that he knows something, he doesn't yet know it as he ought to know.
29:19
But if anyone loves God, he's known by God. Verse 2, if anyone knows
29:23
something or imagines he knows something, if you think, hey, I've got this grand
29:27
knowledge, especially about meat sacrificed to idols, I can eat it, it's no problem.
29:30
He says, if you think you know every nuance of this and you got it
29:34
figured out, that's proof that you don't. Because the only person that knows
29:37
everything is who? God. And Paul's saying you need
29:41
to humble yourself. Romans 16 and verse 27, at the end of Romans,
29:44
Paul says, to the only wise God— only God has all knowledge—
29:49
and he says the moment you start thinking I've got perfect knowledge of something and
29:52
therefore I'm off to the races to do as I please, he says your thinking's
29:56
already warped. But in verse 3, if anyone does what?
30:00
Loves God, he's known by God. Here's the key in matters of judgment. Do you
30:05
love God? See, in matters of judgment, it's not just about
30:09
who knows the most. Sometimes we think it's all about, and you can put this
30:12
in quotes, the knowledge. It's all about the knowledge. Who knows the most?
30:16
Who's got the facts? Who's going to bring their case? And who's going to present
30:20
the most convincing argument? But Paul says, if you actually lead with love,
30:23
then you know you're known by God. God's not really interested in who's the
30:27
smartest person in the church, because guess what? God's smarter than everybody in the church.
30:31
God's actually concerned with, I want to see how much you
30:34
love one another. What did Kim say we're going to have to do in matters
30:36
of judgment? Somebody's going to have to do what? Somebody's going to have to compromise.
30:40
And maybe not compromise your conviction, but you may have to compromise the
30:43
exercise of those convictions and how you go about doing it. And the only
30:47
way you can do that is if you have what? If you have love.
30:51
And in matters of judgment, everybody thinks their way is right, and they start
30:55
building their case, and they start laying it out, and And Paul says, you are
30:58
on the road to destruction because you've forgotten the first principle of Christianity.
31:02
What does Paul say? The aim of our conduct, 1 Timothy 1:5,
31:06
is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
31:09
It's not just about the knowledge. He says, but here's the truth about
31:13
idols. Look at 4-6. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to
31:17
idols, we know that an idol has no real existence and that
31:20
there is no God but one. For although there be so-called gods
31:24
in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,
31:27
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom
31:31
are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
31:34
are all things and through whom we exist. Here Paul's agreeing with these people that
31:38
have the knowledge, okay? There's 2 groups. One group says, we've got knowledge, we can
31:42
do whatever we want. Paul says, we all know this. What do we know about
31:45
God? There's one God. We know the idols are really what?
31:49
Nothing. They don't really— they're a figment of people's imagination. They possess
31:52
no real power. In verse 6, where he says, for us there's
31:56
one God the Father, of whom are all things, one Lord through whom we exist.
32:00
This is like Ephesians 4:4-6. One Lord, one faith,
32:04
one baptism, one God and Father. Paul says we got all
32:07
of that, but that's not all of it. And then in verse 7, he makes
32:11
this great contrast. Look at verse 7. However, not all possess this knowledge.
32:14
But some, through former association with the idols, eat food as really
32:18
offered to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled.
32:22
So in verse 7, when he says not all possess this knowledge, who is he
32:25
talking about? Who doesn't have this knowledge about the
32:29
idols? Who is he talking about? Not all have this knowledge. He's already said,
32:32
hey, we know idols are nothing. There are many gods,
32:35
lowercase g, many lords in the world. People follow that stuff, but we
32:39
know there's one God in heaven, his Son Jesus Christ, But not everybody
32:43
has this knowledge. Who is he talking about, Andy?
32:46
Some people where though? Some of these Christians in the
32:50
church still thought what? The idols had what? Some kind of power or significance.
32:54
Paul says not everybody has this knowledge. If that was you or if
32:58
that was this group, just think about a group over here, what do they need
33:01
if they still think the idols have power? What do they need?
33:05
You might think they need knowledge, and Paul says that's the wrong answer.
33:09
They don't need knowledge. They need something else. What do they need?
33:13
They need love. They need your love. Remember this,
33:17
in matters of judgment, Romans 14 and 15 and 1 Corinthians 8
33:21
through 10, Paul never tells you to try to change anybody's mind. He says,
33:24
change your approach and your perspective. These people don't need a Bible
33:28
study. They think, hey, when I see this meat that's been offered to an idol,
33:31
hey, I think that's still real, man. I can't go in there.
33:34
Think about a person in their mind. I was going to give you some of
33:38
these later. Just take one example. Some people may have former association with
33:41
the place. Every Friday night I got drunk at Chili's. In their mind, when they
33:46
see Chili's, what do they think about? Every Friday night they got drunk at Chili's.
33:49
You know what they need from you? They don't need you to study the Bible
33:52
with them and show them, hey, they serve ribs and chicken and bread. They don't
33:56
need that. You know what they need from you? Hey, we'll just go to Drake's.
33:59
Hey, we'll go somewhere else. We'll go wherever. We need love. The person
34:03
that doesn't have this knowledge, doesn't need you to increase their knowledge.
34:07
They need you to increase your love and compassion for them. And that's what Paul's
34:11
saying. Not everybody has this knowledge, but some with former association
34:15
with the idols, they still see it as that. And if you're so knowledgeable,
34:20
that should be motivating you in how you behave. Look at verse 8.
34:23
He says, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if
34:27
we don't eat and no better off if we do. That's the key in matters
34:31
of judgment. Who's right in this circumstance?
34:35
Who's right, the people that are eating the meat or the people that won't?
34:38
Look at verse 8. What does Paul say? Because what?
34:43
There are some things, and I say this loosely, there are some things God
34:46
doesn't care about. They're in the realm of indifference. Food doesn't make you better or
34:50
worse. And you can start working through practical, like, modern-day matters
34:54
of judgment and think about the various things. Listen, most churches do
34:58
not divide over doctrine. There are some, yes, But most
35:01
church splits happen over differences, and it's not doctrine.
35:05
And it's because somebody thought their view was going to get them closer to God,
35:08
and everybody who sees it their way is really going to heaven, and everybody else
35:11
is not. There are doctrinal matters. The slide before this one, there's that bucket,
35:15
can't compromise. But then there are some differences, and what Paul's driving
35:19
at, you need verse 8, neither one of them makes you any
35:23
closer to God. You can think about issues presently in the church that people have
35:27
their strong opinions on, And Paul would show up and say, you know, God doesn't
35:31
really care either way. Like, you can write 100 articles, you can try to convince
35:34
people of your way, but at the end of the day, eating meat won't commend
35:37
you to God. And plug in whatever modern-day matter of judgment you think. This Bible
35:41
translation won't make you closer to God, neither will this one. This activity,
35:45
it won't make you any closer to God because it's in the realm of judgment.
35:49
It's not a heaven or hell thing, it's a personal conviction thing. And then
35:53
9 and 10, he says, but Take care that this right of yours does not
35:57
somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have
36:01
knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged if his conscience is
36:04
weak to eat the food offered to idols? And let's just finish it in verses
36:08
11 through 13. And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed,
36:12
the brother for whom Christ died. Thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience
36:16
when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother to
36:20
stumble, I'll never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble. Go back up to
36:23
verse 9. He says it doesn't really matter, but then in verse 9
36:27
he says, take care that this right of yours doesn't become a what? A stumbling
36:31
block. How serious is Jesus about you and
36:35
me putting a stumbling block in front of another Christian? Very serious.
36:39
Very. Go to Matthew 18. In Matthew 18, when Jesus
36:42
talked about stumbling blocks, he used the strongest language I
36:45
think Jesus used anywhere in the gospel to talk about how a
36:49
person will be condemned. Jesus talks about condemnation a lot. He never
36:53
did it as illustrious as this and as direct and as violent
36:58
as he talks about it in Matthew 18 and what would happen to a person
37:01
for causing somebody to stumble. I'm in Matthew 18 and look at verse 5.
37:05
Whoever receives one such child in my name, he's talking about young children,
37:08
receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe
37:12
in me to sin, that's not the children, these are like converts. Whoever causes one
37:16
of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for
37:19
him to have a— what? Millstone fastened around his
37:22
neck and— You never find Jesus talking
37:26
like that about anything else in all the New Testament. He says, if you cause
37:30
another Christian to stumble, you would be better off tying a millstone around
37:34
your neck, drowning yourself in the depths of the sea, than to meet me in
37:37
judgment. You think Jesus is serious about us putting stumbling blocks in front of each
37:41
other and dividing over, hey, this is just the way it's got to be.
37:44
And if you really love Jesus, you'll see it my way. Or I've got the
37:48
knowledge and I'm doing this. I don't care if it offends you or not.
37:51
It's going to be my way. Kim said, how do we solve it? Somebody has
37:54
to what? We better be racing to the compromise
37:57
because Jesus says, if you meet me with this spirit
38:01
of, yeah, I know 50 people fell away because I did what I wanted to
38:04
do, but hey, the Bible didn't say I couldn't. I had plenty of grounds and
38:07
rights. Jesus says, it's going to be terrible for you. Because he's serious
38:12
about people that are following him. He doesn't want us to put a stumbling block
38:14
in their way. Go to Romans 14. Bill mentioned Romans 14 earlier,
38:18
and Paul in Romans 14, dealing with similar stuff, though not identical,
38:22
does say some things about this idea of being a stumbling
38:26
block. Romans 14, and notice several times Paul
38:29
mentions this. Hey, don't put a stumbling block in the
38:33
way of a brother. In Romans 14, look at verse 13.
38:36
Therefore, let us not pass judgment. Romans 14:13,
38:39
let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide
38:44
never to do what? Don't put a stumbling block or a hindrance in the way
38:47
of another. Look at verse 20, Romans 14:20, do not for
38:51
the sake of food destroy the work of God. Everything is
38:55
indeed clean, but it's wrong for anyone to make another person stumble
38:59
by what he eats. Don't be a scandal. That's this Greek word
39:03
skandalon. Don't cause anybody to trip up. Because you just had to do it your
39:07
way. Now go back to 1 Corinthians 8. I've got a question. In verse
39:10
8, Paul says it doesn't matter to God. He says it's just food.
39:14
But then in verse, um, verse 11, he says— or
39:18
verse 12, actually. So verse 8, it doesn't matter. But then in verse 12,
39:23
he says you've sinned against your brother and you sinned against Christ.
39:26
Here's my question: how did we go from verse 8 where, hey,
39:29
God doesn't care either way, to now all of a sudden there's sin?
39:33
How? I thought Paul said it didn't matter. How is it sinful now?
39:37
What was that? It matters to you? Yes, but how does my choice
39:42
become sinful? If you cause a stumbling block,
39:46
what once didn't matter, now it matters, and you do sin against Christ when you
39:50
do it. Verse 13 is Paul's approach to this. He says,
39:52
therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I'll never eat meat again lest
39:57
I cause my brother to stumble. Paul says, I've got the same knowledge y'all do.
40:00
I know it's just food, but if another Christian's gonna have a problem with
40:03
it, Paul says, I just assume not do it, then cause a
40:07
brother or sister to stumble. Because he says in verse 11, this is
40:10
the brother for whom Christ died. And that's driving and motivating what
40:14
Paul says. All right, so let me just give you this and then make
40:18
some practical application from 1 Corinthians 8 and we'll be done. And I've given this
40:22
before, especially to like high school, college class, but principles for engaging in actions
40:26
as a Christian. How do I get to decide if I want to do something?
40:28
Number 1, if the Bible says it's sinful, you should abstain. So step
40:32
number 1 in activities is if it's sinful, you can't do it.
40:35
The Bible says this is a sin, that's an easy you can't do it.
40:38
And you could look at those passages that deal with the works of the flesh
40:41
on that. But what if it's not sinful? Can I do it? Well, there's a
40:44
second step. Don't violate your conscience. If it violates your
40:47
conscience, like God doesn't say thou shalt not, but if your conscience is saying thou
40:51
shalt not, you can't violate your conscience because you're going to need that later.
40:54
And if you start doing damage to the conscience, it won't work the way that
40:58
it should. So the first 2 hurdles is, does God condemn this? Nope, take a
41:01
step if you want to. Does my conscience condemn it? Yep, then you can't do
41:05
it. But what if you get past your conscience? Number 3, don't cause another Christian
41:09
to stumble. If the way I'm going to do this will cause somebody else
41:13
to have a problem, even if it doesn't violate my conscience, even if God says,
41:16
hey, it's not going to be a problem with me, you can't do it.
41:20
And then number 4, is this going to ruin my influence with outsiders?
41:24
If you cross all of those hurdles, then you can engage in something. But these
41:28
are the kinds of questions that should be in our mind. Now, somebody's probably thinking,
41:31
and you're right, yeah, but what about things done in private? Amen. Have at
41:35
it if you can pass these, these tests. But if it's done in public and
41:39
if these things are going to come into contact, then you need to be thinking
41:41
about it because God's going to take it seriously. Last thing,
41:45
here's the takeaways from 1 Corinthians 8, and then class is yours. Number 1,
41:49
knowledge can be helpful, but it also can be harmful.
41:52
If our knowledge of scripture leads us to think we can do whatever we want
41:56
no matter who it affects or offends, we've used knowledge the wrong way.
41:59
Bible knowledge is not about, hey, how smart can I be?
42:03
It's supposed to motivate us to be servant-hearted. Number 2,
42:06
just because you can doesn't mean you can or you should.
42:10
Just because you can do something doesn't mean— hey, the Bible doesn't say this is
42:13
a sin. A lot of people are looking for everything in black and white.
42:15
God Give me a list of all the sins. And the first hurdle they think
42:19
about is only that first one on that list. If the Bible doesn't say it's
42:22
sinful, I'm doing it. But that's not all that the Bible says. Just because you
42:25
can doesn't mean you should. What does Jesus say? If you're going to come after
42:28
me, deny who? That means something. Even in these personal matters
42:32
of judgment. Number 3, not everyone is on the same spiritual level, and that's okay.
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In matters of judgment, you're not trying to get other people to see it your
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way. You're trying to see it their way and then say, okay, What can I
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do to compromise and maintain harmony in the body of Christ? Because that's more important
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than being right. Harmony in the church is more important than you being
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right about what you think. Number 4, some things just
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don't matter to God. Some things are matters of indifference, and you can raise
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a big storm about them, but God's going to say, you know,
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people practicing it this way, they're going to heaven, and people practicing it that way
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are going to heaven, but you might go to hell by the way
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that you're handling the circumstance. And it won't be because of the issue. It won't
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be because of the doctrinal position you held. It'll be how you held the position.
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Number 5, causing a brother to stumble is equal to sinning against
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Christ. If you cause somebody else to stumble, Paul didn't just say you sinned.
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He says you actually sinned against Christ, and you don't want
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to meet Christ in that circumstance. Paul's not done talking about this. There's some more
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nuance, but this is how he starts it in 1 Corinthians 8, by talking about
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whether we should abstain or rather we should offend. And we should abstain
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rather than offend. We don't want to cause anybody to stumble. In 1 Corinthians 9,
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10, and 11, Paul's going to continue the conversation and talk about different circumstances.
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And what should you do if you go to somebody's house and they've already offered
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this meetup? What do you do then? What if somebody sees you and you're in
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an idol's temple? And what about personal issues and choices and rights?
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And what if I have a right to do something? And that'll be in chapters
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9 and 10. But thanks for a good Bible class and appreciate you listening and
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your participation.