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Good evening everyone, welcome to Mountain Baptist Church. Take your songbooks and turn to song 325. Song 325 in your songbooks. We'll sing Trust and Obey. And if you would stand, sing song 325. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way. While we do his good will, he abides with us still. And with all who will trust and obey, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but a smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt or a fear, not a sign or a tear, can abide while we trust and obey, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil he doth richly repay. Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross, but is best if we trust and obey, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. But we never can prove the delights of his love until all on the altar we lay. For the favor he shows and the joy he bestows are for them who will trust and obey, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Then in fellowship suite we will sit at his feet or we'll walk by his side in the way. What he says we will do, where he sends we will go. Never fear, only trust and obey, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father of the Lord, we just want to thank you, God, for another night that we get to be in your house and hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, that you just fill our paths with your power and spirit. For it's in Jesus' name we ask all of it, amen. All right, you may be seated. And turn your songbooks to song 322. You want to do 21? Oh, it's 323. We'll do 21 last. Oh, OK. Song 322, we'll sing more about Jesus. Song 322, or 23, good night. More about Jesus, what I know. More of his grace to others show. More of his saving fullness see. More of his love who died for me. More, more about Jesus. More, more about Jesus. More of his saving fullness see. More of his love who died for me. More about Jesus, let me learn. More of his holy will discern. Spirit of God, my teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me. More, more about Jesus. More, more about Jesus. More of his saving fullness see. More of his love who died for me. More about Jesus and his word, holding communion with my Lord, hearing his voice in every line, making each faithful saying mine. More, more about Jesus. More, more about Jesus. More of his saving fullness see. More of his love who died for me. More about Jesus on his throne, riches and glory all his own. More of his kingdom sure increase. More of his coming Prince of Peace. More, more about Jesus. More, more about Jesus. More of his saving fullness see. More of his love who died for me. Yeah, we can give it a try. Yeah, we'll see how that works. If you put it more towards that. Yeah, we'll figure it out. So, amen. Welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening. And just some announcements here. Typical church announcements dealing with the offering box in the back there. We do have that installed now. And we have the mother-baby room. Remember, that's for the mothers and babies. And we want to try to keep the older children out of there. So we want to just keep that for the mothers and babies during the service and after the service. But we don't want to become a playroom when it comes to that and everything get destroyed in there. And as far as upcoming events, we have the men's prayer meeting on the 29th. And then we have the harvest party coming up that Saturday afterwards. Emma, go to mama. Go to mama, unless you want to come up here and do announcements with me. Then we have the sowing time. So obviously, we have our main sowing time this Sunday. But don't forget about the regional sowing time is actually now on Wednesday as well. So before the church service, Brother Richie leads up that time. And then as far as our Bible memory, we have Galatians chapter 6 until the end of this month. Then we're going to have to pick a different book. If anybody has any ideas for books that you'd want to memorize, that you'd like to do as a church together, let me know. I might just put one of these books that I'm still trying to get finished up on here just so that you can suffer through with me on that one. No, but seriously, if you have any book that you would like to memorize, but you want maybe other people to join in with you, then let me know. First on 5-6 is our memory verse for the week. And as far as birthdays, anniversaries, we've got that stuff. The pregnancy, so we have all these ladies on the pregnancy list. So now we have seven ladies on the pregnancy list. And we had six, I think, earlier this year, right? And then two of them have had babies. So what is that, eight total? Well, obviously, some of these will be having babies next year, technically, right? But yeah, so a lot of babies. But being prayer for the ladies, for the babies, all that during that whole process. And I'm trying to think if there's anything else on the calendar that I can't think of right now. I think there's some kind of, well, I don't know, just lady stuff. Who cares about that? Baby showers or something like that going on. But you know what? They don't tell me about these things. And later on, I'll find out, like, oh, there's a baby shower going on this weekend. That's fine. But the harvest party, that is coming up. And so again, if you have any ideas for games, I think ladies might be thinking of different games and stuff like that to do. So I'll just leave that up to you guys as far as what you want to do for that. But yeah, we got some really fast internet, by the way. So we were just upping our speed on our streaming. And Brother Dan's like, hey, test your speed over there. So we've gone from, like, literally snail speed of anything to, like, just above and beyond on that. So that's pretty awesome. So we'll see how everything works there. That's all I got for announcements for right now. Brother Dave's going to sing another song. And I think Brother Levi is going to be reading. Is that right? First Corinthians chapter 8 for us. I spilled my coffee everywhere. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song 324. Song 324. We'll sing, Draw Me Nearer. Song 324. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice and it told thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side. Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, by thy power of grace divine. Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope and my will be lost in thine. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side. O, the pure delight of a single hour that before thy throne I spend. When I kneel in prayer and with thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side. There are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea. There are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with thee. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side. All right, if you would take your Bibles and turn to 1 Corinthians, chapter number 8. 1 Corinthians 8, we'll have Brother Levi come and read that for us. 1 Corinthians, chapter 8, now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing, yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there be God's many and Lord's many, but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge. For some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which has knowledge, sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died. But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh, while the world standest, lest I make my brother to offend." Let's pray. God, thank you for tonight, God. Thank you for your word. I pray that you would be with pastor as he preaches and teaches us something. And I pray that we would learn something from hear these things. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So you're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, and we are continuing our study through the book of 1 Corinthians. And this chapter right here, I kind of titled it, Knowledge Puffeth Up. Knowledge Puffeth Up. And that's kind of what this chapter really starts off with is in verse 1 here, it says, now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edify it. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. So the first thing that you see here is the fact that he's going to be touching on things offered unto idols. So that's kind of what this chapter is really digging into at the very beginning here is the fact that we're talking about idolatry, but specifically things that are offered unto idols, you think of like food. So it's really getting into how do we address this? What do we do as Christians? So to be honest with you, it's not something that we usually deal with. It's not like a struggle that a lot of Christians and churches right now have in the fact that they are, well, should I go eat this food that's offered unto an idol? Because we're just not dealing with that right now. But this does have an application as far as outside of idolatry. But just in general, when it comes to offending a brother or causing another brother to sin based off what they see you do. And so we're going to be getting into that. But the first thing that I want you to see here is that it says we know that we all have knowledge. So who's being talked about? It's talking about brethren. It's talking about those that are saved. And what it's going to be getting into is the fact that we all know that an idol is nothing, that that is just an inanimate object, that there's nothing special about it. It's really nothing. So we know that. We don't think anything special of it. But what he's stating is that when we get in here is that not everybody has that knowledge. Not everybody understands that. But the thing is is that knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth. And go to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 because 1 Corinthians chapter 13 kind of hits on this really hard. And so I don't want to preach on 1 Corinthians 13 because obviously I'm going to be hitting on that when we get there. But I do want you to see here what it says about charity. Because it's giving you a contrast that knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth. And edifyeth means to basically to learn something, to basically it does you good in an aspect of increasing you in wisdom and knowledge and all that stuff. But the fact is is that charity or love, if you will, charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. So it makes sense, right, because it's saying knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth. Obviously, charity is the opposite of being puffed up. And if you think of what is charity, I mean, charity in the Bible is, I mean, you're just dealing with, it's something that's loving, right? But when we think about charity or giving to charity, the idea is that you're giving to charity because it's selfless, right? It's something that you're not receiving anything in return. So it's obviously a loving thing, OK? And so charity is something where you give, but you're not receiving anything in return. And you're doing it because you care, because you have love for somebody, right? And it's not puffed up, meaning that if you're puffed up and you're giving, then you're obviously, it's not a charitable giving. You know, and the Lord loveth a cheerful giver. He doesn't want someone that's grudgingly giving, OK? He wants you to do it because you love the person and you're doing it out of love, out of charity. But go to, what we see here, I love this verse in verse two, is that if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. And that is a very true statement. Anybody that thinks they know something or they know a lot, that person ends up not knowing much at all, OK? And that is as true as the day is long. When it comes to someone that's wise, they're not someone that stands up saying, I know it all and you can't teach me anything, as soon as you run into somebody and be like, I know the Bible, I don't need to be taught anything, I mean, that person obviously knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. And even the people that maybe you would look up to and say, I think that person knows a lot about the Bible or that person knows a lot about life in general, you know what? That person, if they're a good leader, is going to say, you know what? I still have a lot to learn. You know, I'm still on that path to learn and go to Galatians chapter six, Galatians chapter six and verse three, Galatians chapter six and verse three, Galatians chapter six and verse three, it says, for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. OK? Because honestly, in God's, I mean, we're really nothing compared to God when it comes to wisdom and knowledge and God's wisdom. Obviously, we're trying to draw off of God with his word and the Holy Ghost teaching us, but to think that we're anywhere even close to that, you know, we're just deceiving ourselves. You're deceiving yourself if you think that you know everything. You're deceiving yourself if you think you're, you know, God's gift to this world, OK? That you need to, the idea here is that you need to have humility. And having a little bit of knowledge tends to puff people up. And what does it mean to be puffed up? I mean, think of a turkey or a thunder chicken, as you would call it here in West Virginia. What does a turkey do to show like its pride? It literally puffs itself up, you know? It gets all big and starts strutting around, you know? You know those guys, you know, when you go into the gym and it's like a den of cobras, you know? And again, you get into the gym and they're all like this, you know, like, oh, I can't get through the door. I got to go this way, you know? But the idea is that you're puffing yourself up. You're kind of like trying to make yourself bigger than you really are. Animals do this, people do this, but on a spiritual level, on a mental level, this happens. Okay, so obviously I'm kind of being facetious on the physical aspect of this, but this happens on a spiritual or mental level, meaning that you ever get those preachers up there that are just like puffing themselves up the whole time about like, you know, look at me, look at all the books I wrote, you know, look at all the sermons, you know, or, you know, they get up and they start saying like, you know, I preached this many sermons and all this, and listen, son, when you've done it as long as I have, then maybe, maybe you can, you know, maybe we can talk. But see, that's being puffed up, that's being full of pride. And listen, there are preachers that have been doing it for a long time that aren't like that. And those are the people that I respect. Those are the people that I look at and be like, that's a wise person. That's someone's got a lot of knowledge and you can glean off that. But someone that is just constantly praising themselves, you know, the Bible says not to praise yourself, but to, you know, not with thine own mouth, but let another mouth praise thee and, you know, let a stranger praise thee and not thine own lips. You know, the idea there is that you shouldn't just be going around me and like, look at me, look how much I know, look who I am, kind of thing. Rather, you should be in a position where, you know what, you have so much knowledge and wisdom that other people are praising you for it. It's kind of like Solomon, right? Other people were literally spreading abroad his wisdom to the point where the Queen of Sheba came up and said, the half has not been told. Literally the report doesn't do it justice. That's what should be said. It should be the fact that reports are being brought of your wisdom and your knowledge and your understanding and not the fact that Solomon's the one declaring it, right? Or the person's declaring their wisdom and knowledge. And so knowledge puffed it up. And how about this verse? Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. You know, people that puff themselves up and profess themselves to be wise, give themselves all these accolades and all these different titles and stuff like that. And I'm just gonna say, you know, preachers that give themselves doctor in front of it, why are you doing that? You know, what's the point of that? And just giving all these flattering titles and all these different things, it's like, what's the point of that? Now, obviously if you have a position, like, you know, like obviously a pastor, that's a position that they're in, but literally pastor is more like a servant. If you think about the fact that a pastor is like someone that's like ministering to the sheep, feeding the sheep, it's not exactly like, don't call me master and don't call me, you know, like obviously I'm not supposed to be that, you know, like a lord over the flock or anything like that. But the idea there is the fact that, you know what, if you think, the person that thinks he knows anything, knoweth nothing yet as he ought. And go to Ecclesiastes 1 and verse 18. Ecclesiastes 1 and verse 18. Ecclesiastes 1 and verse 18. Ecclesiastes 1 verse 18 says, For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increases sorrow. Now, people that don't have a lot of knowledge and, you know, wisdom and all that, they may not understand what that means. But the idea here is that the more you know, the more you realize you don't know. And the more you know, the more you realize how bad things are, or just you see all the details of things. I mean, imagine how much God knows what's going on. And I almost look at that like, I don't wanna know everything that's going on. You see a little snippet of things that are going on in the world. And you think about, you know, God is angry with the wicked every day. And then you see like little snippets of things that just infuriate you. Like two dudes like adopting a baby. If you wanna make me angry, show me that. Because you know what I'm gonna say to that? They should die tonight. And that baby should be given to somebody that's gonna take care of that baby and not abuse that baby. Because you know that's exactly what's gonna happen. You know, that's the type of stuff that, you know, having much wisdom and knowledge and knowing what's going on is grief, ultimately. But it doesn't mean that you shouldn't be searching for wisdom. Go to 1 Timothy chapter three, 1 Timothy chapter three and verse six. And when someone is, for example, when someone gets saved, this happens a lot. And listen, I think we're all there. If we're all honest with ourselves, when we first got saved, we probably all were a little puffed up with the knowledge that we had. And I'll be the first to admit to you that there were times when I first got saved that I thought I knew more than a lot of other people. Okay, now I didn't personally voice that. I didn't go around saying that. But the idea here is that when you know salvation and no one else understands it, or you go into a church and they don't know it clearly, it can puff you up in the fact to think that, like, oh, you know what, I know a lot. Comparing yourselves among yourselves, but we know what the Bible says about that. That's not wise, okay? And notice what it says here in 1 Timothy chapter three and verse six, talking about the qualifications for a pastor, it says, not a novice, but why? Why not a novice? And a novice would be like a babe in Christ, okay? Nothing wrong with being a novice, okay? It's not saying this is inherently wrong. It's not inherently wrong to be a babe in Christ, right? But you don't want someone to be leading you that's a novice or that's a babe in Christ, because notice what it says here, it says, less being lifted up with pride, you fall into the condemnation of the devil. See, experience and time and, you know, basically going and learning more will cause you not to be puffed up. And this happens a lot with new believers, and you know what, I was there too, where you get puffed up with the knowledge that you have. But knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth. And the thing that we need to always remember is that the more you know, the more you learn, don't let that lift you up with pride, okay? And you know what, this happens a lot, and you know what's funny about that is, is that depending on where you're at and comparing yourself, you may know more than a lot of other people. You may get saved and you're like reading the Bible. Well, if you've read through the Bible cover to cover, you've already done more than most Christians. Just to be honest, most Christians have never read through the Bible cover to cover, so if you've done that, you already have more knowledge than most Christians, and that can puff you up, because here's the thing, you know, you could look at that and be like, I've read through the Bible, no one else has, like I go to this church and most everybody else hasn't even read through the Bible, okay, now compare yourself to like pastors that have read through the Bible scores of times, because I remember, you know, when I thought, you know, me and my friends, you know, like we knew a lot about the Bible, and then I met Pastor Anderson, and you know what, when I met him, it was like this big fish in a little pond type of thing that happened, and listen, this can be with anybody, and you could say this maybe about someone else that you met, okay? But there was like this turning point where I'm like, oh, you can memorize whole books, oh, you know, you don't just read through the Bible, once you read through it like four times a year, there's like things like that where you're just like, oh, wow, you know, like I'm down here, you know? And, but if you compared yourself to a lot of other Christians, you'd be like, well, I'm up here, they're down here with knowledge, because, you know, they couldn't defend eternal security, they couldn't defend, you know, different doctrines of the Bible and stuff like that, but then you look at other people and you're like, oh, wow, that's a whole nother league, okay? And I'm not saying Pastor Anderson's like the highest out there, I'm just saying that that for me was a turning point where I'm just like, you know what, it's time to step it up, I'm actually not that, I actually don't know that much about the Bible, you know, because I thought it was cool that I had all these verses memorized to go soul winning. You know, I was like, oh, man, I can do the Romans Road, I can do it by memory. He's over here quoting the whole book of Hebrews. I'm like, oh, man, that's insane, right? And, but you know what that did, though? It humbled me. Now, that doesn't have to happen to humble you, you could just basically know that from the Bible. The Bible says that knowledge puffeth up. So don't let that happen. And listen, that can still happen to anybody today, that can still happen to me. I could just let, you know, be like, you know what, I've read through the Bible scores of times, I've got all this Bible memorized, you know what, who's gonna touch me? And just have that attitude that I don't need to learn anymore. But you know what, especially in a church like ours, where there's a lot, where everybody's reading through their Bible, and everybody's learning, and everybody's finding nuggets of truth, I can't do that. You know, it's like, a lot of times pastors will get lazy and they'll be like, well, you know what, I know more than most everybody in the church, and you know, they have that attitude, because a lot of people in the church just kind of don't, you know, it's kind of like they read the proverb of the day you know, they read here or there, but they're not really just digging into the Bible. But that's not how our church is, and I love that, obviously, because a lot of times I'm being challenged. Not like in a bad way, in a good way, meaning that I'll be, they'll bring up something, it's not even to challenge my doctrine on something, but more so like, how do you answer this? Like, what do you say about this passage? How do you approach this? And you know what, it's challenging, and that's something that keeps me humble to where, hey, I need to learn more, I need to keep getting higher. And we need to all have that attitude. And even if you did know more than everybody in the church, and listen, there could be someone in here that knows more than me. Okay, as long as I'm not a novice, we're okay. KSBB and the pastor. But someone can know more than me in the church. But you know what, as a pastor, my goal is that that doesn't happen. Because obviously, if I'm gonna teach you, and lead you, and be your pastor, I want to obviously be high up on the knowledge level. But you don't want a pastor that's just prideful, and just like, lifted up with it, to the point where they're just like, you know, if you just be like me, you know, then you would just be, have an awesome life, and you know, why can't you just be more like me? And obviously, that's being silly and kind of hyperbolic. But the idea there is that knowledge can do that to people, and I see that happen all the time. And I was no exception to the rule, okay? And I always tried to be humble, but in the back of your mind, you're kind of like, these people don't know anything. You know, you'd walk into a church and be like, these people don't know anything about the Bible. And you're like, talking about simple things, they don't know anything about the Bible. And it's very easy for that to lift you up and think, like, we're something special, okay? And we should never have that attitude. And listen, do I think our church is special? Of course I do. Do I think our church is the best church? Anywhere near anything right now? Like, as far as like, all of West Virginia, and all the surrounding areas, yes, I do. I think our church is the best church that you can come to. I think we have the best soul winners. I think we have the most knowledgeable people in our church. I think we have the best families. And so, do I think highly of our church? Yes, I do. But never let yourself think that highly. Does that make sense? Like, I think we can strive to be that, but the thing is, is don't mentally think that you're there. Don't let that get to your head. You know, you've probably ever heard that. Don't let it go to your head. Because obviously, I think that about our church. But the reason our church is like that is because our church is humble. Because our church is not lifted up with pride. And you know what? That's where you're gonna do great things for God, and you're gonna increase in learning. Go to Proverbs chapter one. Proverbs chapter one. And I know I preached a whole sermon on this about how a wise man will increase in learning. But I just kinda wanna read this again with this in mind, and the fact that, if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. And listen, this doesn't mean that you can't have confidence in your doctrines, right? You can't have confidence that like, yeah, we're right about that. That's not what I'm saying. There's a difference between being bold and having confidence in the Bible and standing firm on the Bible and being puffed up. Okay, there's a difference. And so being puffed up is being prideful about your ability to know it all and everything else. Because you can show someone confidently and boldly that you're right and that the Bible's right without being prideful about it and not being lifted up and puffed up about it, okay? You can do it gently, you can do it meekly and in a humble manner. You know, we try to do this out soloing. We're like, you're going to hell, but we try to say it in a really nice and meek and gentle way, right? But at the same time, we're gonna stick to our guns on it, right? We're not gonna vulture on that. We're not gonna be like, well, you might be right, maybe you're not. No, we're gonna be like, yeah, you're going to hell. That's what Bible says, you know? And you're sticking to your guns, but you're not being puffed up about it, you know? Now, in Proverbs 1 and verse five, it says, "'A wise man will hear and will increase learning. "'And a man of understanding shall attain "'under wise counsels, to understand a proverb "'and the interpretation, the words of the wise, "'and their dark sayings.'" Notice this, "'The fear of the Lord "'is the beginning of knowledge, "'but fools despise wisdom and instruction.'" And someone that thinks they know everything, they don't want to be instructed. Kids deal with this. I mean, who here has dealt with homeschooling, okay? We're just getting into it. But this is an issue, okay? Where your kids think they already know everything, okay? Everybody deals with that. And the fact that all, you know, I already know that. I already know how to do that. And you try to show them, no, you're doing it wrong. No, I'm not, I'm doing it right. And that's a problem, you know, but here's the thing. Foolishness is in the heart of a child, okay? That's to be understood, okay? The fact that children are going to be like that, and you know what? The rod will drive it far from them, and obviously instruction, and you gotta plow through that, okay? But as adults, you know, the Bible says that when I became a man, I put away childish things. And I think as a man, it says as a wise man, we'll increase in learning, and we'll receive instruction. Notice what it says in Proverbs 9. Go to Proverbs 9 and verse seven. Proverbs 9 and verse seven. If you close yourself off to learning anything, and don't get me wrong, this phrase, you're not teachable, is a very annoying phrase, okay? Just gonna be honest with you. You know, I've heard this so many times when I would try to, like, we'd talk about certain doctrines and I would go to a church and I talked about certain doctrines, like, I don't know, the pre-tread rapture's wrong, or different things like that, and it'd be like, you know what? You just need to pray that you're teachable, okay? Well, there's a difference between being teachable and just being a blind follower and not listening to the Bible, okay? I'll be teachable as long as you show me here, okay? And we had a visitor, you know, that was trying to show us all kinds of crazy stuff, and he's just like, you know what? The worst sin is a closed mind. I said, my mind is as open as this book right here. You show it to me in here, said, then we could talk. But, yeah, no, I'm not gonna be open-minded about, you know, the book of Enoch or some weird occultic teachings or anything like that. So, you know what? Yes, you wanna be teachable, but that word has been tainted to mean, basically, just follow what I say and don't ask questions. That's wrong, okay? So you don't wanna just go into learning as far as like, all right, I'm gonna listen to what they say not ask any questions. No, the Bible says, the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Meaning this is that, yes, you know, a pastor is there to feed the flock and to teach and to edify, but you don't just blindly follow what I say, okay? You say, okay, does that match up with the Bible? And I'm gonna follow that, or I'm not gonna follow that. But you know what? You should never just believe it because I say it. Like, well, Pastor Robinson says it. You know, if someone asked you about a certain doctrine, would you say, well, Pastor Robinson said it. You know, this is what our pastor believes. It's like, well, what do you believe? And not only what do you believe, but why do you believe it? And, you know, that's where you need to have maturity and have a mature Christian. And of course, in a church like ours, we're gonna have a range, right? We're gonna have a range of maturity. We're gonna have a range of knowledge. We have a lot of kids. I mean, good night. I mean, that should tell you right there. There's gonna be a big range of, like, immaturity to maturity as far as being a Christian or anything like that. But notice in Proverbs nine and verse seven here, it says, he that reproveth a scorn, or get it to himself shame, and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorn, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. So the thing that I wanted you to see there is the fact that a scorner or a wicked person, they don't wanna receive instruction. So if that's what a wicked scorner is like, do you wanna be like that? Okay, do you wanna be the person that just will not hear instruction, will not hear a rebuke, will not hear reprove, and, you know, or will you take it and say, does this apply or not? And listen, if you get a rebuke from somebody and it doesn't apply and they're out to lunch, then okay, you know. You don't have to receive a rebuke if it's not legitimate. But if you receive a rebuke, if you're honest with yourself and say, okay, does this apply to me or not, you know, take it. Take the rebuke. A wise man would rather take the rebuke and learn from it and get better. Because ultimately, we wanna know what's right, what's wrong, and get things fixed and go down that path. So, because everybody could look at that and be like, well, you know, this person rebuked me, but they were completely wrong and they were teaching a false doctrine. It's like, well, yeah, don't really listen to that. Many times I've heard preachers rebuke what we believe and rebuke what we do, and they're completely wrong. You know what I think of that? I just laugh at that rebuke. But you know why I laugh at it? Because it completely contradicts what the Bible says. Okay, so if a rebuke completely contradicts what the Bible says, or it's a complete false accusation as far as what you're even doing, then you don't regard it, okay? But listen, if we're all sinners, we know that there's gonna be rebukes that are just gonna have to apply, you know? That where you're just gonna have to be like, yeah, I messed up, or yeah, I need to get that right. And listen, if I preach on soul winning, or if I preach on reading your Bible, and I preach on memorizing the Bible and stuff, anything like that, listen, if we're all honest with ourselves, we could all improve. We could all do better. And you know, it's a lot of times interesting how the people that are doing the most in those areas are the ones that are like, man, I stepped on my toes. You're like, good night, you're like doing great in that. But the people that end up doing the most in it and that are like striving to do it are the ones that end up taking the rebuke and actually wanna step it up. But then the people that are like completely not doing it, take offense to it, and then get upset about it, and then, you know, don't actually do anything with it. But the thing is that we need to realize that we have not arrived, okay? Go to Philippians chapter three, Philippians chapter three and verse 12. And ultimately, this is, to be frank with you, this is like my life verse right here. This is my favorite verse when it comes to what my goal is, is Philippians 3.14. Really, I would link that with Philippians 3.13 because it's all in the same sentence, okay? But this passage right here is something I think about and I'm always constantly saying, you know what? I haven't gotten there yet and I still need to go further. And our church is named Mountain Baptist Church. The one big reason why it was called Mountain Baptist Church is because how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bring us good tidings or and publish of peace and bring glad tidings of good things and publish his salvation. And the verses that are talking about salvation and how it's dealing with mountains, right? But another reason why I wanted to call it Mountain Baptist Church is because I wanted to be always climbing up that mountain of truth, climbing up that mountain of knowledge and wisdom and wanting to get up where the Lord is at and the fact that we need to be pressing toward that. Notice what it says in verse 12 here. It says, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after it that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Notice that basically he wants to know or comprehend or apprehend Christ is saying as much, basically as he's apprehended of Christ, okay? He wants to know Christ as much as Christ knows us is essentially what he's stating there. But brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God and Christ Jesus. Now there's a couple things that you could think there is that obviously you're forgetting about your past as far as like, well, I messed up and all these different things. Well, just forget about that and move forward. You think about Paul, he had to kind of do that. Every time, every time I drink coffee. I need to like, I need to chug it before I get up here so that I can just drink the water. But he obviously had to put that in the back of his mind. You don't just dwell on the past, you learn from the past. But how about this? Don't keep remembering things that you did in the past that were great, okay? The idea of living off former glory. So you could look at the past even of our church and say, you know, look at all the great things that we did in the past and just think, well, we've done so many great things, we can just coast. No, we should, forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth onto those things which are before and we should just keep going up, going up, going up and don't look back. And that's the attitude that we should have. You know, we press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God and Christ Jesus and that should be our attitude. Not ever get puffed up for either the things that we know or the things that we do. And ultimately, you know, as it says in like 1 Corinthians five and, or I'm sorry, 1 Corinthians four where it says, just nothing before the time, the idea is that we just need to keep going forward and not worry about, let the chips fall where they may as far as what rewards we get, what all we accomplish. You know, obviously it's nice to see the accomplishments to kind of keep us going and have motivation. But you know what? We're just keep moving forward, moving forward, moving forward, not comparing ourselves to other churches, not comparing ourselves to other Christians. You're just moving forward, doing what you can do, getting up there. And then later on, you know, when we're in heaven, we can see the difference. But as soon as you start looking at the difference between what we're doing and other churches, if you looked at what we're doing compared to other churches in this area, you'd be like, we've accomplished more this year than these churches will do probably in their whole lifetime. You say, oh, that's arrogant to say, it's facts. These churches don't go soul-winning. So, and that should, shame on them, okay? I'm saying that shame on them. They should be doing as much as we're doing. They should be doing more than what we're doing. And, but here's the thing, let's not compare ourselves to people that aren't doing anything or churches that aren't doing anything or churches that are doing minimal things. You know what? We should be looking at and saying, you know what? We're going to strive better. We're going to keep going. And we also shouldn't be comparing ourselves to people that are doing, other churches that are doing even greater things because that could bog us down. And we can get, you know, bogged down and be like, ah, man, we're nowhere close to what they're doing. Just focus on what you're doing and you know what? Maybe if you keep going and going and going, you'll get above that and you'll do greater things. But just as much as Jesus said to Peter, you know, follow me and he asked about the disciple whom Jesus loved and he said, what is that to thee? Follow that me. Is that we need to focus on what we're doing, keep going forward and not getting puffed up as we go. Okay, the more we know, the more we should realize we don't know. And if that, if you realize that, that'll just keep you digging in more and you'll end up knowing more, knowing more, knowing more. Okay. Now in 1 Corinthians 8 and verse three here, it's an interesting verse. It says, but if any man love God, the same is known of him. Now this verse is interesting because there's two ways I can understand what it's stating here is if, but if any man love God, the same is known of him. Maybe the love, the same love is known of him, meaning like it's known that you love God, like it's outwardly manifested that you love God. Or I've kind of looked at it in the fact that but if any man love God, the same is known of him, meaning God, like God knows that person that loves him. Now, the reason that I kind of think that that could be the case is go to 1 John chapter four, 1 John chapter four, I think both of those are true. That makes sense? Like both of those are true statements, meaning that if any man love God, he's obviously saved. Okay, and I'm gonna show you an application here on that. Meaning that I don't believe an unsafe person loves God in that aspect, okay, and I'll show you why. Because in 1 John chapter four and verse seven here, it says, beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. Now, this does not say that if you don't love, you're not born of God. It says if you don't love, you don't know God. And to know God is to keep his commandments. Hereby we do know that we know him, and we keep his commandments. Okay, knowing God is like apprehending God. Like Paul is saying, I have not yet apprehended, but he's trying to, right? Meaning that that's a process that's something that knowing who God is, can anybody here say that they know God fully? Like as far as they know everything about God, know every little detail, there's nothing else to know. That'd be ridiculous, okay? Obviously you know him to a certain extent, and anybody that's saved would know him to a certain extent, right? You know him enough to know like he's the savior, he died on the cross for us, he gives us eternal life, you know that, right? But to say that you know him holistically and on like a perfect level, no one can really say that. But at the same time, like those that are, this says blessed are the pure in hearts, for they shall see God. And you think about the fact of perceiving God. You know, when it talks about seeing something, you're kind of perceiving it. And the idea here is that he that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Meaning this is that the prerequisite to loving or is to being saved, okay? Meaning that you have to be saved, meaning you're born of God and you have to know God in order to truly love. And that's what I believe the Bible's teaching there. But if you don't love, then you don't know God. But it doesn't mean that you're not born of God, okay? It doesn't mean that you're not saved. But it is a true statement that if you love God, you're saved, okay? Because there's a lot of people out there that will say, well, I love God. It's like, you know, obviously you think you love God, but if you love God, you'd believe on him, okay? And truly as believers, if we truly love God, if you love me, keep my commandments, okay? Now, however you want to take this verse, you know, as far as is it's saying that if any man loved God, the same is known of him. I think it could very well apply to that. And the fact that if you love God, it's known, like it's manifested that you love God because you're keeping his commandments and you're doing those things, right? It's kind of like the, in 1 John, it talks about the fact that, you know, the sons of God are manifest, and I'm going to mess that up. Okay, but it says, you know, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In this are the children of God manifest and the children of the devil. And I'm going to mess that verse up. So I want to make sure I'm saying it right here. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. Okay, so when it's talking about living, you know, basically manifesting that child of God, that's inward, the inward man, is the inward man loves the children of God. The inward man loves God, okay? And so those that love God are born again, right? Those that, but, so inwardly, we have an unfeigned love for the brethren. Inwardly, we love God. Inwardly, we never would hate God or despise God or anything like that because inwardly we're sinless. We have the Son of, you know, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, all that. But fleshly speaking, you know, that could definitely happen where we don't love God because we're, you know, an enemy of God and all these different things. We're not a friend of God in those cases. But the Bible does teach is that, you know, the Bible says in A.M. 1.7, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him. So if this is talking about the fact that the same is known of Him, you know, obviously those that are known of Him love Him, those that are known of Him, and it even talks about in 1 Corinthians 16, the last, I think the second last verse, it says if anyone loved not, I'm gonna make sure I don't mess that up. Verse 22 of the last chapter there, it says if any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema marinatha. So that idea of the love of God that's inside of us, right? And the question is, do you let that be made manifest? And it's interesting because this chapter is dealing with the fact that knowledge popeth up, but charity edifieth. And the idea of the love of God and the love of God being manifest, that inward man, that child of God that's manifest to the world and all that, and how that applies to this chapter. Now go to 1 Corinthians chapter eight and verse four, it says in verse four, as concerning therefore, the eating of things that are offered and sacrificed unto idols. So this kind of goes back to the why he's writing this, you know, the very first verse says now as touching things offered unto idols, okay? And he's kind of rebuking in the fact that you have knowledge, but you know, knowledge puffeth up, charity edify it. But concerning these things, it says, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him, howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge, for some, with conscience of the idol, unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. So here we're seeing that, okay, we know that an idol is nothing. It's just an inanimate object. Note there's only one God, okay? These aren't really true gods. But it says, for though there be that are called gods. I want to point that out, and if you don't mind underlining called gods, because the Mormons love this verse. The Mormons use this verse to be like, see, there's other gods, right? This whole chapter's rebuking idolatry, and saying it's wicked, and sinful, and all this other stuff, but yet they're gonna attach this and say, well, see, that proves that we're gonna become gods, and that there's other gods that are out there. Now, it says that there be called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, because there's plenty of things that are called gods, whether it's planets that are in the heavens, whatever the case may be with the Greek mythology, or Roman mythology, and all these different things that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, and there's a lot of these physical idols and graven images that are called gods. But it says, but to us, there is but one God. Now, the way they say it is like, well, the Mormons will say, well, to us, meaning like here, to us, there's one God, right? But it doesn't mean there's not gods outside of that. Well, you gotta take everything in context, because it's saying that for though, it says that there is none other God but one in verse four. For though there be that are called gods, meaning that they're called that, but he's saying they're nothing, right? These idols are nothing. But to us, there is but one God. The us is talking about the fact that us that believe, meaning that we know, to us, we know that there's only one God. Notice, and here's really the nail in the coffin as far as the fact that there's obviously only one God, even though there's a lot that are called gods. It says in verse seven, howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge. What knowledge? That there's one God, okay? And he's basically just personalizing it in that one verse where it says, to us, there's one God. Right? To us is referring to the fact that we're talking about us that have knowledge that know that idols are nothing and that they're called gods. And he's basically saying there's a lot of gods out there. Would anybody deny there's a lot of gods out there that are called gods? I mean, just in Hinduism alone, what, they have millions of them or something like that? I mean, I would say that's God's many, okay? I think that qualifies as many gods, okay? And Lord's many. But we know that there's only one God. But not everybody has that knowledge, okay? Meaning that obviously there's a lot of people that literally think there's multiple gods, all that, and they're weak in their conscience, okay? Now, just to show you that gods, you know, and idols are being used synonymously here, in Leviticus 19 and verse four, Leviticus 19 and verse four, I want you to see that we're dealing with idols, okay? Which makes sense, because that's what the chapter's talking about. We're talking about idols, and those are being referred to as gods, but it literally says that an idol is nothing in the world. It's nothing, okay? So it's not a true God of any sort that anybody should be worshiping. It says, turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods. I am the Lord your God. So you notice that that physical image that that's molten metal, that's being referred to as a god, okay? Now, how many times throughout the Old Testament it says, you know, these dumb idols, and it means dumb because they can't speak. They can't hear, they can't eat, they can't do anything, right? They're just these inanimate objects, and constantly God is basically showing, like, you literally cut down a tree with an ax, and the same wood that you're burning in a fire, you're literally bowing down to. That's what it says in Isaiah, and I know we already covered that in Isaiah. Clara, sit up and stop messing around. I know we already hit that, but the idea is that that's how silly it is. Like, you literally made it. You made the God that made you? What, you know? Like, you are the craftsman of the God that you're worshiping. That's just completely nuts when you think about it. You know, God, who created us, He's always been, and we had no part in creating Him. Obviously, that's ludicrous because He never had a beginning. He's from everlasting, but that being said is that we're dealing with that now. In Psalm 96, you don't have to turn there, but in Psalm 96 and verse four it says, "'The Lord is great and greatly to be praised, "'and He is to be feared above all gods, "'for all the gods of nations are idols, "'but the Lord made the heavens.'" So notice how He's equating idols and gods together. He's saying all these gods in the nations, so all these Greek gods, all these Roman gods, all these Hindu gods, whatever gods you find out there, they're all idols. So when He says flee idolatry and that idolatry is wicked and sin, all that, then you know what? He's talking about all these so-called gods out there, and that's why He says they're called gods. There's many that are called gods, as there'd be gods many and lords many, because there's tons that are called that. And how about this, that there's people that call themselves god, or people will ascribe godhood to people. I mean, you think about the Roman Empire, they ascribe, I believe Julius Caesar, but some of the Caesars as being like god, like a god. But how about this, dealing with Herod? Go to Acts chapter 12, Acts chapter 12, let's see what God has to think about that, when someone pronounces himself to be god, or a god, or even doesn't rebuke somebody for it, which is the case here with Herod. So in Acts chapter 12, verse 21, it says, and upon a set day Herod, a raid and royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a god and not of a man. So he obviously, they must have really loved his speech. And it says, and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. So that was pretty brutal. But that's how his end was, because, but do you see how people are ascribing godhood to people? And they're looking at even people, not even inanimate objects, as being like a god. And go to 2 Thessalonians chapter two. You think that's over? It's interesting, because Revelation talks a lot about idolatry. There's a specific idol that's gonna be in the end times. It's called the abomination of desolation. It's called this image that the false prophet's gonna set up of the Antichrist, or the beast. And it's interesting, because what causes that to happen, or what event happens here, notice what it says in 2 Thessalonians two and verse three, it says, Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man to sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. That's literally what's coming on the horizon, is someone that's gonna literally state that he's God, and the Bible says in Daniel that he's not gonna regard the god of his fathers, nor any other god, but the god of forces, and obviously, I believe he's talking about the dragon and all that, and Satan, but basically, you know what? There's constantly people that are calling themselves gods, that are rulers, and in these positions, and people look to them as if they're God. And listen, that happens today. You say, wow, we don't really have idolatry, really? There's people that idolize leaders right now. There's people that idolize Trump, let's just face it. I know the gas prices were better when he was in office, and I know other things were a little better, you know, supply chains were doing a lot better when you didn't have a fag running everything, but ultimately, a lot of people just idolized that guy, and a lot of people idolized Obama, a lot of people idolized a lot of these people. Dr. Fauci, I mean, it's sickening, the things, the people that idolize that guy, you know? But people literally hold these people up as if they're gods to them. It's just whatever they say, that's fact, that's truth, we must follow what they say no matter what, and that is their god, and literally, the government has become the god of America. And you know what, it's wicked, it's idolatry. And idolatry is as a sin of witchcraft, and it's insane how much our nation has been bewitched by media, and by just the leadership, and just everything that's going on, and you know what, our country deserves it, to be honest with you. I look at these gas prices, and I'm just like, man, this is stupid, you know? But at the same time, I'm like, does our country deserve any better? Do we really deserve any better until we start stop killing children? Until we start getting right with God, and stop promoting sodomy, and stop promoting all this wickedness around the world? Does our country really deserve to have a great economy? Do we really deserve to have all this stuff? No, we probably deserve to be brought down like a couple hundred pegs. But that being said, is that people will idolize people, and you think there's a show even called American Idol. Right? You would think that Christians would look at that and be like, that's really not right. Okay, we probably shouldn't watch that, or we shouldn't think that's a good thing. But I remember when I was in college, I went to like a Baptist campus ministry thing, which by the way, those parachurch ministries are all garbage, okay? Campus crusades, Baptist campus ministries, or whatever. I'm sure FCA was awesome though. No, I'm sure it was horrible too, okay? But I was never a part of that one. But all these parachurch ministries, meaning like it's like not a church, but it's like some gathering of some sort that's outside of a church, you know what? They're all liberal, and they all end up going wicked, and they end up always being led by someone that's not even saved. And I still remember to this day that we had some kind of meeting or something like that. Honestly, you know what these meetings were for? Is to meet girls, okay? You wanna know why guys go to these parachurch ministries? To meet girls. And then you realize, guys, that if you're a fundamental Baptist, that that's not where you wanna meet a girl, okay? You're like, I'm gonna go find the unsaved person that had nothing to do with you. I'm gonna win them to Christ, and I'm gonna go after that person. But that being said is that I still remember this day where they were like, oh, we're gonna go back to so-and-so's house, and we're gonna watch American Idol. I'm like, American Idol? Like I didn't even know what it was, to be honest with you. Now this should show my age, okay? Because I don't know how long that thing's been out. It's been a while. But I still remember that going back, and we're all hanging out and stuff like that, and they're watching this American Idol where people are singing and all this stuff. I'm like, why is this a cool thing to do? Or why are we watching American Idol, okay? But even today, you know that people have what they would say is like an idol. Like, that guy's my idol. No. That's not, that's not a good thing, okay? Never say, oh, my pastor's my idol. No. Don't say that, okay? Now obviously you can look up to people, and you can follow me as I follow Christ, okay? But this idea of someone being an idol to where they're literally like a god to you, and people do that with sports players. They do that with musicians. They do that with actors. They're a bunch of celebrities, which celebrity kinda comes from celestial, stars, and all that. And why are we worshiping people that pretend for a living? Why do we, by the way, Harrison Ford's not really Indiana Jones, okay? Tryin' to think of another one, you know, like that would not be who they are. Mark Hamill's not really Luke Skywalker, sorry. He's actually a really hardcore liberal in real life, so you wouldn't like him. But that being said, why are we looking up to these people? These people end up being bad people in the end, most of the time anyway. And so we need to not idolize people like that. First Corinthians chapter 10, go to First Corinthians chapter 10, dealing with this. We know that the Bible says that idols, you know, gods of this world are idols. And what are idols? You know, in a physical sense, they're just, you know, basically a graven image that is worshiped. A graven image that's worshiped as a god. Now, what does it say here in First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 19? It says, what say I then? That the idol is anything? Or that which is offered and sacrificed to idols is anything? Well, we know it's nothing, okay? So obviously, he's stating that as kind of like a rhetorical question, like we know it's not anything, we know it's nothing. But in verse 20 here, notice this. You say, well, you know, there's worshiping nothing. You know, that idol's nothing. Yeah, that inanimate object is nothing. But what does it say here? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. So don't lose this, okay? When you're dealing with idolatry, they're worshiping someone. Okay, we know that that object, and it's really nothing, right? We know that the Greek gods like Zeus, and you know, or just these different, you know, I don't know what the other gods, some worldly person, tell me about all these other gods. The idea is that we know that they're nothing, okay? They're all made up. They're just made up fictional characters, okay? But ultimately, though, when people worship these gods, if you will, and they worship these images, if you will, they're actually worshiping devils. It's very demonic. And that there are devils that are being associated with this. And it's a very demonic type of religions that have idols. I mean, just look up Hinduism and the gurus and all that stuff and just the demonic stuff that they get into. There's always demonic stuff, and you're like, is everything? Well, you know, the Catholic Church has idols. Yeah, don't get me started with the Catholic Church, or the Greek Orthodox Church that have, you know, with all the idols and all that stuff, and let's talk about demonic forces that are at work there, okay, but there are demonic forces there when they're worshiping that. Listen, when they're worshiping Mary, they're worshiping the queen of heaven. And ultimately, that is, you know, you're dealing with demons and devils and all that, okay? So go to First Corinthians chapter eight again, First Corinthians chapter eight and verse seven. So we know that an idol is nothing, okay? So the point he's trying to get across here is that to us, you know, that's just an inanimate object. If you saw a statue of Buddha, what's that to you? It's nothing. It's just a piece of metal, you know, whatever it is, nothing, but people that worship that, they're actually worshiping devils when they worship it. Does that make sense? And they call it a god, you know, there's only one god, but they are worshiping devils, okay, when they do that, but how does that apply to us, and what's the lesson that he's trying to get across here? Verse seven here says, how be it? There is not in every man that knowledge, for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. So he's basically saying, what does it matter what we eat and what we don't eat? It says, but take heed, lest by means, this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. So he's basically saying, you know what, it's nothing to you, you know that's nothing, so what's it matter if you eat something that sacrifices unto the idol, it doesn't matter, right? But it matters based off the person that sees you eat it. Okay, that's what it's gonna get to in verse eight, or verse 10 here, it says, for if any man see thee which hast knowledge, sit at meat in the idol's temple. Okay, so why are you eating this? You're literally in the idol's temple, okay? So you're in the idol's temple, it says, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? So basically they look at you and they're like, oh, he's eating it, he's in this temple eating it, and to them, they think that you're doing it as if this is a real true like God of some sort. Does that make sense? Like to them, they don't know what you're thinking, they don't know your thoughts, they don't know what you know about it. All they're seeing is what you're doing. It says in verse 11, and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. But when ye sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Now, I believe that we're dealing with brothers that are weak in this, okay? That they're being bewitched by this and getting into idolatry. You're like, well, how could they get into idolatry? You're saved, ask Solomon, okay? But there's obviously a harsh punishment for committing idolatry if you're saved, to the point where you could perish, meaning that you could die. And when you do this, if you are doing something that someone is going to see that you're doing and take it as if you're doing it unto like a false god or something like that, it's saying you're sinning against the brethren. And when you do that, it says and wound their weak conscience and it says, wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth lest I make my brother to offend. This kind of couples a little bit with Romans chapter 14 where you're dealing with people that eat herbs that are weak, right? And then people that eat meat and basically not judging. You're not there to just like bring them down. They're like, listen, you need a steak. You need to get your protein. You're not going to get all that protein with those beans and lentils. You need grade A black Angus meat and just start coming down on them, okay? But the ultimate thing is is that if someone, for example, literally thinks it's a sin to eat bacon because they're like, well, I still think that that applies in the New Testament. I'm still kind of pulling that over there. And they literally believe that that's a sin for them to eat and then you literally just hand them bacon and be like, all right, eat up. And then they eat because they don't want to offend you or they're just like doubting. You know, well, maybe it is right, maybe it isn't. Well, the Bible says you're damned if you eat because if you don't eat in faith, then it's sin, okay? So you don't want to offend your brother by throwing stuff in their face that they think might be wrong, okay? That doesn't mean you can't go eat bacon at your house. You know, people are like, oh, you know, that means that I can't eat what I want to eat. Eat whatever you want to eat. The idea is that you're not shoving it in their face and trying to tempt them to do something that they don't think is right. Even if we know it's not wrong, okay? But here, this is where I believe this verse in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 22 really rings true. Abstain from all appearance of evil. Abstain from all appearance of evil. Meaning this is that you don't want to do things that are going to look like you're doing something sinful. Now, listen, people take this way too far. Like, I don't play cards because people may think I'm gambling. I think that's taking things too far. Now, if you want to go that far and be like, I'm not going to play a game of spades because they may think that I'm betting on the game or whatever, you could do that with anything. I mean, any game. So to me, that's ridiculous to take things that far. But people do that and be like, cards are wicked and you should never play cards at all. But that being said is that, you know what? You probably shouldn't go into a bar. Even if you're just going to get a Diet Coke or something like that. Does that make sense? Like you shouldn't just go into a bar because that's going to look bad. Even if you're not doing something bad in there. That's kind of, I know, we don't really have the application where people are like sacrificing things on the idols here in America where we're like, okay, here's what we're doing. So let's put it down on a level where you go to a place that's a lot of simple things or people are doing simple things to where it could look like, are you doing that? Like you go up to a bar and you order a root beer and one of those root beer bottles. Listen, this already feels guilty enough when you get it at, like we're having a church event and we got like bottles of root beer or something like that or the ginger brew. I mean, I'm all for that stuff. I'm not saying we shouldn't get it or anything like that. But listen, if you're in a bar and you're drinking ginger brew or you're drinking root beer and it literally says beer on there, obviously we know that that's just a soft drink but do you see how somebody that's saved in there could be like, oh man, that person, I know him, he's a Christian and he's over there drinking. They don't have knowledge knowing that you're not really drinking. You're not drinking alcohol. But notice that where is he at? He's in the temple of the idol. That's where he's at. So that's why it looks really bad. So that's why we need to try to stay away from those type of places and stuff like that. By the way, listen, I understand this. I understand that there's a lot of restaurants that have bars in them. I'm not one that will not go to a restaurant if there's a bar in there. But if it's a bar, like that's what it's for and they happen to sell food, I personally don't want to go there. I'll order out or something. I'll get it through the window. Give me your food through the window and then I'll head out. But that being said is that you want to try to abstain from all, I mean, what would you think if you just saw me walking out of a bar at night? Wouldn't you be like a little concerned? Okay. You'd be like, oh, I was just having a root beer, you know, with some friends or something like that. I mean, there's just a lot of questions that would be asked. I mean, and you think about like people that are, and especially people that are weak in the faith, right, meaning that people that, you know, are very unstable souls, if you will, will look at that and be emboldened to be like, oh, you know, well, Pastor Robinson's over there jumping out of a bar, you know, because the building's not inherently bad, right, and the drink I'm drinking's not inherently bad. It's not like that's wrong for me to drink or anything like that, but do you see how that really appears bad? The appearance is just really bad. And here's the thing. Can I get a root beer somewhere else? Yes. Okay. I can go order it somewhere else. I can go get it from the store or whatever. You know, that's the thing that you got to be thinking about when you think about what you're doing, okay. And so in 1 Corinthians Chapter 10 hits on this as well, and I know we're going to be getting to 1 Corinthians 10, but the idea is that this really kind of supplements that or it kind of hits on it again dealing with how to deal with this issue of appearance of evil or when it would be right, okay, because like I said, it's not wrong to drink a root beer, okay, but you probably shouldn't do it while you're in a bar, okay. You probably shouldn't be in the bar. Like, why is this guy in the temple of the idol, right? What's he doing there? Like, well, he's preaching the gospel. Is that really the best place to do it? Okay, because we don't believe in street preaching, and I don't know about you, but I've been in like bars and like places like that. They're the loudest, most obnoxious places to talk. You can't talk to anybody. You're screaming at your friend, trying to talk to them and see what's going on. It's not a good place to like talk about the gospel, even if you were there to do that. So in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 23, it says, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. And this goes into the liberty, right? We have liberty, and you know, like I have the liberty to go into a building and get a root beer, okay. I don't know, I'm just using that example, okay, but I have the liberty to do that, and there's nothing inherently wrong with me going into any building and getting a root beer and coming out and doing whatever, okay. But not all things are edifying. Like that could actually be very detrimental as far as if someone sees me go into a certain building and come out with a certain drink that looks like a certain drink or whatever, okay. And in verse 24 here, it says, let no man seek his own, but every man and other's wealth. Meaning that you need to be thinking about how this affects other people. And verse 25, it says, whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat, asking no question for conscience sake. Now shambles is like an older word or a word that we don't normally think. We think of shambles like your room's in shambles, right, but it's literally talking about like a slaughterhouse or like a meat market, if you will, which you kind of think about why that would be applicable. You know, your room's like a shambles, you know, it's like a big, like you just slaughtered somebody in here. But that being said is that it's basically saying, whatever you get at the market or whatever, you know, don't ask, basically don't worry about where it came from, whatever, okay. Because that, you think about this when you think about food and you're like, well, I can't drink this because this company's run by this person. I can't eat this because this is run by this person. It's like, well, we're not gonna eat anything then. We're not gonna be able to eat anything, do anything. Every single business you go into is run by some wicked person somewhere. And, you know, good luck trying to find where it's just like some fundamental Baptist that's running that establishment to where you can just really, you know, enjoy yourself. Okay, go in, asking no questions about who runs this operation, you know, like all that. You know, you just basically get it and don't worry about it, right. Because in the end, you know, it's sanctified through the word of God and prayer, you know, what you eat. But in verse 26 says, for the earth is Lord's and the fullness thereof. If any of you, if any, I'm sorry, if any of them that believe not bid you to a feast and you'd be disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscious sake. Notice that you're at a feast, you're not in the idol's temple, okay. See a little difference here? You're not literally in the belly of the beast of where idolatry is going on and they're doing the sacrifices and all that stuff to the idol. You're literally just at a, you know, a party or something like that. You're at someone's house or whatever, you're at a picnic and they like give you food. You're basically, you don't ask, you're just like, all right, thank you, I'll eat it. But notice what it says here in verse 28. But if any man say unto you, this is offered and sacrificed unto idols, eat not for his sake that showed it. And for conscience sake, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. So he's basically saying, you know what, if they hand you food, you should be like, all right, thank you, you know, you eat it, don't think anything of it. But if they specifically tell you, listen, this thing was sacrificed on the Molech or whatever, I don't know, you know, this thing was sacrificed on the Remfan and you know what, at that point, you gotta be like, listen, I'm gonna have to pass on that one. Now we know that the idol is nothing and literally anything that you eat would be good and sanctified with the word of God and prayer, okay? But the point is, is that they know that you know what that came from. And if, for example, if let's say other people in that group knew where it came from, but no one told you, the Bible's just saying, you know, just eat and have a note, you know, ask no questions, just eat it. You're not bound to just like know what everybody knows about everything and just like bound to just like worry about whether something comes from somewhere it shouldn't and everybody knows it, but you don't and all that. But if it's brought to your attention and it's explicitly told you, like this thing was sacrificed on the idols, you're supposed to be like, no, not eating it because, you know, that idol's wicked, I want nothing to do with that, you know, and basically kind of making that known. And it says in verse 29, conscience, it says, you know, you do it for conscience sake. It says, conscience I say, not thine own. He's basically saying you're not doing it for your own sake because you know it's nothing, you know you could eat it, right? But it says, but of the other, for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? So he's basically kind of like asking this rhetorical question to be like, why, you know, why, you know, am I being judged because someone else's conscience is being defiled or weak based off what I eat? But in the end it says, in verse 30 it says, for if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that which I give thanks? Because that's what your retort would be. It's like, you know, why do I have to worry about what they're thinking and, you know, what their thoughts are and the fact that they don't understand or whatever? But in verse 31 it says, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. This is where you're seeking another man's wealth, not seeking your own. And it says in verse 32, give none offense, neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles nor to the church of God. So basically, whether it's unsaved people or to save people, you shouldn't be giving offense. Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved. And this is where you really have to think about the fact that there's some things that we do and some things that we go without just for other people's sakes. And that's where charity comes in. And that's why the whole chapter is basically like, knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth, meaning that sometimes you have to be a little selfless. You have to take a little, you know, you have to basically go without, if you will, and not drink that root beer in the bar, okay? I'm kind of thirsty for a root beer now, speaking of that. But, you know, obviously the idea here is that we have a lot of liberty in the New Testament. You know, we can eat whatever we want to eat. But the idea is that we're gonna cause someone to fall or cause someone to stumble in their walk with Christ, or if it's an unsaved person, right? It's an unsaved person that's there. All right, go talk about that gospel with that person after they've seen you like in the temple eating things sacrificed unto idols. To them, they see it as if like you regarded that idol. And now you're gonna go to them and say, hey, there's no idols, you know, that's all garbage. You know, there's only one God. And they're gonna be like, what in the world were you doing there? Like, they're gonna look at, it's not gonna be good for your testimony, okay? And so there are applications today where this applies, not just root beer in a bar. There's other applications obviously you can put to that as far as the appearance, abstaining from the appearance of evil. We want to try to go above and beyond. And sometimes, even if it's ridiculous, and if your standards are further than they have to be, you know what, it's better to be safe than sorry in some cases. So I know that I was kind of joking or kind of making fun of people that won't play cards because they're afraid of people thinking they're gambling. You know what, if that's your stance and you want to defraud yourself playing cards, you know what, it's better than going the other direction and not caring that you're gonna offend somebody and not caring that you're gonna cause someone to stumble. But, you know, that's something that we have to think about is that we want to obviously have charity and be selfless and, you know, think about others when we're doing things. So let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word and just pray to be with us as we go home, as we go back to work, and just pray to help us to understand this and help us to apply it to our lives. And when we love you and pray, in Jesus Christ's name, amen. His brother, they will come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song 321. Song 321, we'll sing where he leads. I'll follow if you would stand. We'll sing song 321. Sweet are the promises, kind is the word, dear, far than any message man ever heard. Pure was the mind of Christ, sinless I see. He the great example is and pattern for me. Where he leads I'll follow, follow all the way. Where he leads I'll follow, follow Jesus every day. Sweet is the tender love Jesus hath shown. Sweet are far than any love that mortals have known. Kind to the erring one, faithful is he. He the great example is and pattern for me. Where he leads I'll follow, follow all the way. Where he leads I'll follow, follow Jesus every day. Let's do his loving words, come unto me. We react.