(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

1st Corinthians chapter 8 and let's look at verse number 9. 1st Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. So the title of the sermon this morning is coming there from verse number 8. Sorry verse number 9. Sorry where is it? Verse number 9. This liberty of yours. The title of the sermon this morning is this liberty of yours but take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. So what does it mean to have liberty? The Bible says that we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have liberty. We have freedom in the Lord don't we? And you guys might know John chapter 8 verse 12 which says and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Okay the truth has made us free. We are free men in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ kept the laws of God perfectly. He kept the commandments of the Lord perfectly. So when we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior we're born again we have the new man we have the new spirit and we are not under the law. Okay but not only the commandments of the Lord but the Lord has given us so much freedom in this world to do things and as we'll see in this chapter according to our conscience. Did you know our conscience can tell us whether things are right or wrong not just the Word of God but God has given us a conscience. But here's what happens we all have a conscience of man. We all have a conscience but sometimes your conscience might be a little different to mine. Some of the things that I might do that's free in my conscience in your conscience are wrong and for you that would be wrong for you to do but for me it would be right for me to do those things. I'm not talking about the clear things that are listed in the scriptures. I'm not talking about the things that are clearly sinful in the scriptures. I'm talking about other things that we're free to participate things that we have liberty to do in this world but to other believers it may very well be a sin because of their conscience. Okay now look at let's look at verse number one 1st Corinthians chapter 8 verse number 1. Before we get into all of that there's a very important key to this to this chapter that we need to understand. It says now as touching things offered unto idols what you'll notice is this chapter is primarily dealing with things that were offered unto idols especially food that was offered unto idols false gods things that were sacrificed to false gods so concerning these things now one thing you need to understand in Australia we're probably not that familiar with things being offered unto idols okay because in many ways you know I kind of mock the fact that we're so called a Christian nation but in many ways yes Australia has been influenced by Christian values yes it's been influenced by biblical truth okay so we don't have you know the kind of the paganism what we do have that in this nation we don't have it to the same level that the Corinthians had in their church okay where they worshipped multiple gods and people were offering things unto idols and you know it was a challenge for the Christians to go into this city and teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ and get them to reject their false gods but concerning the things that were offered unto idols especially food we know that we all have knowledge then let me pause it for a minute according to the Bible we all have knowledge doesn't matter how long you've been saved it doesn't matter if you've been saved for 20 years it doesn't matter if you've been saved for two months the Bible says we all have knowledge what does that mean that means none of us should be puffed up with the knowledge that we have because we all have knowledge even the babes in Christ have knowledge and you'll notice here that it is reference to being puffed up because it says we all have knowledge knowledge puffeth up so the more knowledge you have the more likely you could be to puff yourself up the more likely you could be to feel yourself with pride because of your knowledge and you maybe you know people maybe you've been like this and I know I've been like this where I've gained new knowledge and a fellow brother has not had the same knowledge and I've felt pretty prideful hey I know something you don't know and I've got to tell you my knowledge right and that's nothing wrong with having knowledge there's nothing wrong with that but notice the rest of it knowledge puffeth up but charity edifyeth charity what is charity very in a short summary it's love and we're going to go through this a little bit more but when you have the knowledge you need to make sure your knowledge is coupled together with charity because both knowledge builds up and charity builds up okay now here's the difference knowledge by itself builds you up knowledge by itself builds up your pride but charity builds up other people so when you go and teach people when you teach them the knowledge that you have you need to make sure you have the charity to go with it because that way you're ensuring that the person you're talking to the person you're teaching is being built up is being is gaining is being profit is profiting from the knowledge that you have otherwise it's just you being prideful otherwise it's just you putting people down because of how much knowledge you have versus how much knowledge they have okay so charity builds up to other people now why does the Bible use the word charity and not love like a lot of the modern versions by the way have changed charity to love but the King James Bible has retained the word charity because think of a charity you know when we say we've given to a charity you might give money to a cause you know I remember a brother and we're having breakfast together I think and a deaf man came along asking for money he gave me some some of your spare change you gave to charity right what that is is you've given you've done something practical you haven't just said yes I love you but charity is doing something practical about that love right because what's the point of me just saying I love you but never showing that love never doing anything where I'm serving you out of love okay so when we talk about charities and giving to charities the reason we give to charities is because they're doing something practical that's loving toward other people right now church is a charity as well in a sense right church is a charity you give to church why for the purpose of us being able to go out and you know purchase the tracks you know being able to fellowship together be able to get together so we can go out and preach the gospel to this lost and dying world that is charity we're doing something practical because we love the lost and we want to get them saved right and if you say to me Kevin I just don't have a love for the lost well let me let me take your soul winning because when you go so winning and you hear what people think they need to do to go to heaven it'll give you a tear in your eye it'll it'll sadden you because you know this person is lost and going to hell without the Lord Jesus Christ and I found that I love people that were lost not is it's not going so in sorry I wasn't driven to go so winning because I love people that were lost when I went so winning I developed that love for the lost because I started to hear their stories and I started to hear what they were trusting to go to heaven verse number two if any man think that he know if anything and this is by the way this is knowing something without charity okay so if any man thinks he knows anything he know if nothing yet as he ought to know so without charity yeah you may have a lot of knowledge but without the charity the Bible says you really know nothing okay it's not worth anything because all you're doing is puffing yourself up and being full of pride and let me just tell you that's why church is so important okay why church is so important it's one thing right and I know some of us have been in the situation where you know you listen to a lot of preaching online but you've not had a church to go to you learn a lot of things you study the Bible you hear a lot of preaching you develop a lot of knowledge but without a church where you can have people that you can show charity toward you can end up being puffed up you can end up being full of pride because it's when you come to church and you still learn the Word of God but you have other believers among you you're gonna have no choice but to love those people at some point you're going to develop a love even those that seem very different to you even those that may have different standards to you when you're gathered together in a church and you're fellowshiping with one another and you go out and you do the work together it will naturally happen where you develop a love for the brethren it will naturally develop where you want to edify the brethren and so church is so important because yes you gain the knowledge but you can also have the outward charity to what other people whereas if you skip church all together and you say well I can just learn the Bible on my own I can just listen to online preaching I can just study that will fill you with pride and then when you meet another believer that doesn't have the same knowledge as you do you're going to tear them down rather than build them up okay now one thing I want you to notice you guys can if you can leave it leave a finger in 1st Corinthians 7 please turn to 1st Corinthians 13 so just a few pages over 1st Corinthians 13 we're going to take a lot of different things passages from different chapters but while you turn into 1st Corinthians 13 I just want to read to you John chapter 1 verse 14 the Bible says and the word who was the word Jesus Christ and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as the only begotten of the Father now do you guys know the rest of that verse full of grace and truth full of grace and truth verse 17 for the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ so we're talking about knowledge and charity you could put it in another way what is knowledge knowledge of the truth and what is charity showing grace toward your brethren when Jesus came you know when he left heaven and took on the form of a man he came yes with truth yes he came with knowledge yes he came as a teacher but he came with a lot of grace as well a lot of grace towards sinners a lot of grace toward the ignorant right and his own sacrifice is full of grace for this lost world Jesus knowing he came with grace and truth we need to make sure we have the grace when we preach the truth okay we need to make sure these two things are together because that's what Jesus had and we're learning that as well here in 1st Corinthians chapter 8 those things come together and you know so into my friend yesterday some of you guys I mentioned to you I had a friend yesterday and we were talking about the IFB movement you know the IFB movement the Independent Fundamental Baptist in Australia and you know there's a lot of knowledge there's a lot of good doctrines a lot of you know in depth there's a lot of desire to know the Word of God but there's no charity many cases there's not a lot of grace in many cases and so as soon as someone is wrong with something we cast them out of the churches because they're wrong rather than lovingly taking them aside and say look brother let me help you understand this it's like well you're stupid if you don't understand that hey you know you need to take your brethren and have the charity have the grace so you can edify that person and train that person without it you're just full of pride without it you're full of pride okay so 1st Corinthians chapter 13 you should be there verse 4 what is charity let me just go through this very quickly what is charity according to the Bible and again a lot of the modern virtues will change this charity here to love okay but charity suffereth long so it's patience and is kind charity envy if not charity is not not not not seeking what other people have charity is what can I give to other people right charity wanteth not itself what does once mean it means it does not boast it's not puffed up okay it says it there and not itself is not puffed up so it's not prideful okay those two kind of things it doesn't boast it's not prideful verse number five doth not behave itself unseemly so it's of right behavior it's sicketh not her own so if you're someone of charity you don't look after just what can I get but you seek after the needs of others it is not easily provoked we spoke about not being easily offended people before when you're easily offended it's because you have a lack of charity and it says thinketh no evil you know so you know you say well this person's innocent till proven guilty right and many times we think well that person's guilty until they prove themselves innocent no people ought to be innocent until they're proven guilty verse 6 rejoice if not in iniquity so you know if someone if a believer does something wrong they're caught in a sin you know we shouldn't rejoice over that well you know yeah you know that person deserves to be caught and you know and you know sometimes we like to put down people because it makes us look good we shouldn't rejoice in iniquity but rejoice in the truth so when we hear the Word of God we hear the truth of the Word of God we increase in knowledge we rejoice in that truth not because we're trying to put people down but because we're understanding more of what God is telling us verse 7 it beareth all things so someone that's charitable will carry the burdens of other people they'll listen to the struggles other people are going through the trials they're going through and help them and encourage them believeth all things hope of all things and I believe we can basically say that we give people the benefit of the doubt and if they've done something wrong in the past we give them the benefit of the doubt that now they're trying their best to work after the Lord we believe what they're saying we're hoping that they're trying to continue in the ways of the Lord endureth all things so no matter what trial you go for if you're someone that's full of charity you're going to still shine through as someone and not give in to those trials not not fail at the point that those trials and verse number eight charity never fail if what does that mean well the context explains it but whether there be prophecies they shall fail whether there be tongues they shall cease whether they be knowledge it shall vanish away so at some point knowledge will go away tongue speaking as far as biblical tongue speaking that that that gift would be will cease prophecies you know new revelations outside of the Word of God will fail there's no more than what we already have in the Word of God but regardless all those attributes all those qualities all those gifts of God the one that will continue forever is charity and so it makes it the most important thing there so we need to make sure again that we yes that we we have a desire for the truth we have a desire to grow knowledge but we also have a desire that we are charitable people we are people that love and seek to edify your fellow brother in the Lord back to first Corinthians chapter 8 first Corinthians chapter 8 verse 3 but if any man loved God the same is known of him okay so what does this mean so if someone loves God you will know that they love God why because the context is charity you have a charity to what other believers I'll just read to you quickly first John 4 20 if a man say I love God and hate of his brother he is a liar for he that loveth not his brother whom he have seen how can he love God whom he have not seen and this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God loveth his brother also so if you want to say hey how do I know brother Jason loves the Lord how do I know brother Matthew loves the Lord how do I know you know pastor Kevin loves the Lord how do we know these things well do they love the brethren do they show charity toward are they considerate toward the brethren in the church that's how we know because if we if someone's in here and they don't want to they don't a fellowship with their brothers and sisters they don't care about you know a doing serving one another anything like that then we know they don't love God they're alive they say they love God so we know people love God if they love the brethren now verse number 4 verse Corinthians 8 verse 4 now we turn going back onto the idol thing understanding that that's important understanding that the need to love our brethren it's important but verse 4 as concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one so people offer things to idols should we really be concerned that people are doing that not really because we know an idol is nothing we know an idol has no power and I've preached on idolatry not long ago we understand that the idol in of itself has no power okay it can't do any harm to you it's nothing but what we have is the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob we have the God of the Bible we have the one true God which we serve this church is a church of that one true God we have that as it says there at the end of verse 4 and that there is none other God but one how many gods are there one God right and that's our God it's the God of the Bible these other gods these idols these false gods are not true gods okay they are nothing in of themselves verse 5 for though there be sorry for though there be that are called gods whether in heaven or in earth as there be gods many and Lords many so on this earth yes there are many gods yes on this earth there are many Lords but again none of those are the one true God okay verse 6 but to us okay there is but one God this is the memory verse but to us there is but one God now let's let's understand this because here's where people can get confused if we read let's read it let's read it the confusing way okay there is but one God the Father so ah the Father is the one God of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ well hold on I thought there was only one God the Father but then who's this the Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him is it saying here that there is only one God who is the Father is that what it's saying no because we know Jesus Christ is God as well right so this is how it should be read but to us there is one God comma who is this one God the Father okay of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ so the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is the one God this is teaching the Trinity of course it doesn't mention the Holy Spirit here but we know the Father is God and we know the Lord Jesus Christ is God okay but notice what it says about the Lord Jesus Christ how many Lord Jesus Christ are there you notice what it says one Lord Jesus Christ and look I wouldn't spend time on this verse because this verse is should be basic doctrine it's a core doctrine we've already preached on the on the Trinity but as you guys know I feel like I'm being dragged into this Trinity controversy into this Trinity debate and I feel like I just need to make the things clear there's one Lord Jesus Christ one so if Jesus is the Son of God and that's who he is can we say that the Father is Jesus Christ or is that to Jesus Christ can we say the Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ or is that free Jesus Christ's how many Jesus Christ are there how many Jesus are there's one Lord Jesus Christ and you're thinking Kevin we know that I know that I don't understand why this is confusing for some people all right the Father is not Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit is not Jesus Christ and let's just understand this further from this verse because this verse has a lot to teach us back to the Father the God the Father so there is but one God the Father of whom are all things so everything in the universe everything that's that exists okay is the fact that all things basically saying here all things consist because of the Father everything in this world belongs to the Father okay but notice what it says about Jesus the one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things so everything in this universe exists because of Jesus okay so everything consists because of the Father because he owns all things but everything exists because of Jesus Christ why because he is the Creator he is the one that created all things but all those things belongs to the Father and as if you know we learned about the end times we know at the end of the millennium yes everything is subdued under Christ but then Christ has that kingdom over to the Father because ultimately everything belongs to the Father but everything the Father does is through the Lord Jesus Christ okay now notice the other the other bit of it says of whom are all things talking about the Father of whom are all things and we in him so if you're a believer you are in the Father okay and we read about how we know well when we talk about eternal security that we are in the Father's hand as well we are in him we're secured by him but how do we go in him when he says and the one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him so how do we go how do we how are we in the Father by him by Jesus it's through Jesus that we go into the Father was eternally secure in the Father because we go by Jesus Christ it's through Jesus Christ that we go to the Father basic doctrine okay you guys know this you know my kids know this so let me say this to you this verse is saying in order to be in the Father in order to be of the Father we need to go by Jesus Christ right by the one by the one Lord Jesus Christ okay let me reinforce that can we get to the Father without Jesus Christ no we need Jesus Christ to get to the Father but think about this and this is the controversy that's going on and and you know I've told you guys I draw the line where you start calling where you start giving the personal name of the Father of Jesus and you give the personal name of the Holy Spirit as Jesus because if Jesus if the Father is Jesus okay and we know that we need to go to the Father through Jesus and the Father is already Jesus then why can't we just go to the Father directly he's Jesus so what's the point of the Sun if the Father is Jesus and we need to go through Jesus to get to the Father then we can just go straight to the Father we don't need the Sun does that make sense it destroys the basic principle throughout the whole scriptures that the only way to the Father is through Christ is reduced Christ you know I am the way the truth and the life no man come in front of the Father except by me just said Jesus Christ I'll just read to you first John 2 22 who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ he is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son who so denieth the Son the same hath not the Father but he that acknowledges the Son hath the Father also so in order to have the Father we must go through the Son what is the Son's name Jesus the one Lord Jesus Christ not the Father the Father is not Jesus Christ we cannot go to the Father through the Father we cannot go through the Father through the Holy Spirit we go through the Father to the Father through Jesus Christ and when you believe in Christ you're given the Spirit of God and you are made known to the Father and you are saved okay if you start giving the name of the Father as Jesus yes I know you're trying to to exalt Jesus you know you think you're trying to exalt Jesus but then what you're actually doing is saying well we don't need the Son now I know people aren't saying that but that's the logical step why do we need the Son if the Father's already Jesus in fact you're undermining who Jesus Christ is and that's one of the major problems of this oneness doctrine where everyone's Jesus no there's one Lord Jesus Christ it just starts opening a can of worms starts is drawing destroying just very foundational truths that everybody already knows that the scriptures clearly state when you start mucking around with the Godhead when you start mucking around with the Trinity and I didn't want to spend my time on that but I feel like I have to cover that verse number seven first Corinthians 8 verse 7 how be it there is not in every man that knowledge so not every man has the knowledge that there's one God because many men think there's many gods false idols and all that stuff for some we've conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol now that that phrase is very important to the rest of it so those that according to the conscience if they eat something that's offered that that that's been offered to an idol sorry when they eat something that's been offered to an idol they recognize that this is a religious practice that they're eating something that that was offered to an idol and their consciousness hey this is a religious thing that I've done and their conscience being weak is defiled so because their conscience is weak because they don't have the knowledge of one God and they think this idol is some sort of false god and some sort of true God when they eat of that idol they are defiling themselves they're committing a sin because they're partaking of a sinful religious act but in their conscience okay not in our conscience because we know there's one God and if we eat something that was offered to an idol it's just food it doesn't matter it belong to the Lord right but to someone that believes there are a false gods they can eat of it and that defiles their conscience because they think that is a true God that it's being offered to now verse number eight but meat commandeth us not to God so saying look no matter what you eat whether it's something that's offered to an idol or not offer to an idol or whether you know you know you try to eat organic foods or if you you know you're a vegetarian you think that's more you know more right or whatever look doesn't matter what you eat it doesn't make you any more rights to God you know it doesn't command us to God doesn't matter what you eat you can eat McDonald's or you can eat you know a good steak or whatever you don't earn any spiritual points with God in what you eat and I think about the Old Testament dietary laws you know how certain foods were restricted and I actually think there's a lot of profit in following the old and now I don't follow the Old Testament dietary rules but I think there's a lot of profit I think there's a lot of health benefits if you did okay because at the end of day that was God's knowledge that gave to the Old Testament Israel and obviously God's wisdom is far above our wisdom I think there's a lot of health benefits if you ate the Old Testament dietary laws though that's not put upon us but if you did that yes you might improve your health but you're not going to improve your place your spiritual place before God okay because it doesn't matter what you eat okay for neither if we eat are we the better so we're not better if we eat certain things neither if we eat not are we the worst it makes no difference now please turn keep a finger in 1st Corinthians 8 please turn to 1st Timothy chapter 4 1st Timothy chapter 4 because I want to drive something home here when I think we don't do it very well in this church something that we can improve in this church okay and I'm not you know obviously I'm not so prideful to say that there aren't things that in this church we can improve okay so first Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 understanding things concerning you know things that were offered unto idols and all that's our foods the Bible says in verse 1 now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisy having their conscience sealed with a hot iron forbidding to marry and then notice the next bit this is the bit that I want to work focus on and commanding to abstain from meats okay so there were people saying hey you can't eat certain foods okay I think of vegetarian I think of vegans that say hey you can't eat certain meats but then you might have a weak brother who's weak in the conscience and says well that food was offered to an idol you shouldn't eat of it okay commanded to abstain from meats which God hath created notice the next few words to be received with thanksgiving to them which believe and know the truth so when we partake of eating food we don't know like I bought bread and ham so we don't know necessarily hey who knows well that was being prepared and being made who knows that may have been offered to an idol who knows right I don't care because I know there's one true God and I know an idol is nothing but it says hey when we take food we need to receive it with thanksgiving okay so what I'm trying to say to you is and I know we do this sometimes but many times we don't when we get together and we have lunch together when we have a meal together please don't dig into the food immediately let's stop and give thanks to God for the food okay we're meant to receive what we eat with thanksgiving that's something we can improve as a church verse number four for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused you can eat any creature does that include snake and I don't know I wouldn't need that kind of stuff but I guess every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving so again please let's get into a habit when we eat together as a church that we give thanks to the God we receive the food with thanksgiving because it's it's the Lord's okay same thing for you at home good practice to get into before you eat give thanks for the food that the Lord has provided so that is something that we can improve as a church so let's do that moving forward let's make sure that we don't partake of eating until we give thanks for the food together verse number nine oh sorry back to first yeah back to first Corinthians chapter 8 first Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 first Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 but take heed so listen take heed listen to this lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak so you are free to eat food that's been sacrificed to idols that's your liberty but take heed listen pay attention because you don't want your liberty to become a stumbling block to those that are weak because there are there may be other people unsaved even people in the church that if they think we're eating food that's been offered to idols they're going to defile their conscience because they think that I will meet has some sort of religious significance that they've done some some sort of you know you know evil religious acts and that's going to defile the conscience you shouldn't be so puffed up with knowledge that you don't consider the brethren that are weaker in conscience okay and we'll see this play out for the rest of the the chapter but verse number 10 if any man see thee which has knowledge see at meet in the idols temple now I don't know why a believer would be in an idols temple eating food I don't know why but this is just a hypothetical okay it's a hypothetical thing for if any man if a man see thee seeds a believer which has knowledge because you know if I'm going to eat at an idol's temple I'm just eating food I know that idol is nothing I know that temples nothing it's just food I can eat I have the liberty to eat it now again I don't know why you do that but you could okay that's your Liberty you could do that okay now but if a man sees you do that shall not the conscience of him the man that sees you which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols right because they're weak because they think this is a religious activity that's taking place they might see you as a believer using your Liberty eating things that were offered to an idol and say well well if a Christian can do that and that's my brother in Christ that's a mature believer then I can participate in this thinking that we're participating of some religious activity with a false idol so their conscience then is defiled because they in their minds in their conscience they're serving a false god they're sacrificing to a false god and verse 11 and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died okay for whom Christ I so now it's a believer for believer you know if they see you go into a temple a false religious temple and they see you do that they're gonna think it's going to destroy them right it's going to go how does that make sense you know is it okay for a Christian then to participate in religious activities of false gods well the question then gets brought up is this so Kevin is it right or wrong to eat food which will offer to idols it seems kind of contradicting can we eat it's saying we have the Liberty can we do that but then it's kind of same way it's wrong to of course we wouldn't expect a believer to be in a temple eating food that was offered to an idol please turn to Revelation chapter 2 Revelation chapter 2 and again keep a finger in 1st Corinthians 8 but Revelation chapter 2 I want to show you a couple of things because is it wrong to eat food that's sacrificed to idols first of all the answer is yes and no the answer is yes and no and again it comes down to your conscience okay but Revelation chapter 2 verse 12 and to the angel of the church in Pergamos right these things safe here which have the sharp sword with two edges I know thy works and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seed is and thou holdest fast my name and has not denied my faith even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth so this church is doing well but then it says I've got a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication so should this church be eating things sacrificed unto idols no God saying that I have these things against you you're eating things that are sacrificed unto idols look at verse 18 for revelations 218 this is another church unto the angel of the church in Thyatira right these things save the Son of God who have his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass I know thy works in charity so they got the charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works and the last to be more than the first not we stand and I have a few things against thee because thou hast suffered the woman Jezebel which call of herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols so both these churches Pergamos and Thyatira God is saying I have a few things against you because you're eating things sacrificed unto idols Israel do me a favor can you close those sliding doors just the three of them so doesn't make too much noise now so is it wrong to eat things that are sacrificed to idols yes Jesus is saying I have these things against this church for doing so but in what way is it wrong to eat things sacrificed unto idols it's knowing it's it's a it's teaching or being part of a religious activity where that idol is being served Isabel all three where that that idol is being served with that idol that things are being sacrificed unto the idol and you're making the conscience of your weak brother defiled that's where it's wrong okay now if you go to first Corinthians chapter 10 okay first Corinthians chapter 10 there's a lot in this chapter that we can take to help understand this because it seems like a contradiction but I believe the answer can be found here in first Corinthians chapter 10 verse 18 first Corinthians chapter 10 verse 18 because look what it says about Old Testament Israel verse 18 behold Israel after the flesh are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar so when in Old Testament days when they were sacrificing you know the sheep and the oxen or whatever and you partook of that you ate of that sacrifice it's saying you're partaking of the altar this is a religious act this is a religious worship toward God that you're partaking of okay so that's true in the Old Testament days when they sacrificed food unto God and they partook of that they ate of it this was a religious practice unto God look at verse 19 what say I then that an idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything so again it's not anything but I say that the things with which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to devils and not to God and I would not that you should fellowship with devils so we shouldn't partake of food sacrificed to idols because in the Old Testament days it was a religious activity you know doing that to toward God in the same way when they sacrificed to devils we are not to partake of that fellowship with the devils okay and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils if you eat things that were sacrificed to idols you are in a sense fellowshipping with devils verse 21 you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of devils you either serve the Lord or you serve devils it can't be one and can't be both together you know and we as believers ought to be serving the Lord verse 22 do we provoke the Lord to jealousy we serve a jealous God do we provoke the law to jealousy are we stronger than he remember why was God a jealous God because he says hey we ought to not worship or serve other gods besides him and so what draws God to jealousy is when we believers serve other gods when we serve other when God's people in the Old Testament or the New Testament serve false gods that are not the one true God but look at verse 23 all things are lawful for me so I can eat of the food that was sacrificed to idol all things are lawful unto me why because we have Liberty okay but all things are not expedient not all things are profitable not all things that I do are going to edify my brethren all things are lawful for me but all things edify not okay so if I go and and if I go and eat you know are things offered unto idols then you know that's not profitable to my brethren that's not going to edify my brethren that could cause them to defile their conscience verse 24 let no man seek his own but every man's and others wealth so we're to consider the wealth of other believers we need to consider their conscience we need to consider their edification and if we're eating things that are offered unto idols and that's pulling them down and confusing them we ought to not participate of that food okay verse 25 whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat asking no question for conscience sake what's things that are sold in the shambles that's things that are sold in the marketplace things that are sold in the shops now there might be things that you buy from the shops that were sacrificed unto idols think of Halal certification you know in Australia if you go to a butcher most butchers in Sydney sorry in Sydney most butchers in Sydney have the Halal approved symbol I haven't seen that really here but in Sydney there are a lot of Muslims all right and for the butchers to make maximum profit they want to be able to sell to two people that are of the Islamic faith so they get this the Halal certification and look what Halal means it means permissible it means that this the way this animal sack will sacrifice the way this animal died the way this animal is being served is permissible to the Islamic faith and so Muslims can eat of that means that's what it means but also when it becomes permissible a shake praise praise over it and sort of offers it to Allah and they say well you know this is permissible in accordance to Allah they do their prayer and in a sense someone of a weak conscious might say well then I don't want to partake of that food that's been certified Halal because it's been prayed to a false God it's been prayed to it's been offered to Allah but again we have the liberty to know hey the idols nothing that's a false God it has no power I have the liberty to participate of those things so things that you buy from the shambles things that you buy at the store yeah you don't know that may very well have been offered to idols but it says in verse 25 whatever is sold in the shambles that eat asking no question for conscience sake so if you buy something just eat it because you have the liberty to eat it don't ask don't find out was this offered you know what about this product read this product what God's with this off don't for conscience sake don't defile your conscience you know just just eat of it don't ask questions just eat of it verse 26 why for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof if any of them that believe not bid you to a feast so if unbelieving family invites you to their house to have a feast to eat together it says and you be disposed to go you know you say yeah I want to go whatsoever is set before you eat asking no question for conscience sake just eat of it if someone invites you to eat just eat don't ask him hey did you offer this to an item just eat it save your conscience from being defiled you know because you have the liberty you got freedom to eat things that may or may not have been offered to idols okay and I kind of think about a situation where I went so winning once and I knocked on the door of a Muslim man and I tried to give him the gospel but he was busy he was doing a barbecue he's doing barbecue chicken and if he's Islamic yet probably Talal certified whatever and then he's like oh before you go he came and brought some chicken to me barbecue chicken before you go you know you can have something to eat because he's around lunchtime that will go and so on and so he offered me food I didn't ask for conscience sake I just ate it I know that the God that he made of offered it to is a false god I just ate it who cares you know I was hungry it was lunchtime and I gave me the gave me the fuel to keep going and you know preach the gospel some more either who cares you know don't ask but notice what it says here in verse 28 but if any man say unto you so again remembering somebody invites you to a feast you come together you're about to eat of the food and you haven't asked questions but a man say unto you this is offered in sacrifice unto idols you know how when we went before we eat we give thanks and give thanks for the to God for the food similar but they do the same thing to an idol hey you know we're participating of this meal together it's offered to this false god you know we're serving we're giving thanks this false god it says eat not for his sake that showed us so the person that says hey this is an offering to a false god don't eat of it for their sake and for conscience sake for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof so verse 29 says this conscience what does he mean by conscience sake conscience I say not thine own but of the other for why is my liberty judge of another man's conscience so if a non-believer invites you let's say Islamic man a Muslim family that many of them are very friendly invites you over to eat you say all right let's go eat maybe I get the chance to preach the gospel to them you sit down to eat and they say hey this meal has been provided to us by Allah let's give him thanks let's praise him then you know what me as a believer I'm going to refuse that meal and say no I serve the Lord God of the Bible I do not serve Allah I'm not going to participate it not because if I ate it I'm doing anything wrong but because for your conscience I want you to know that as a believer I do not worship false gods I'm not going to fellowship with false idols okay and that is where it gets wrong because if you participate of that meal knowing that it was sacrificed to idol and you're defiling the conscience of other people that's when you ought not to eat food that's sacrificed to idols and so these churches in Revelation that were doing wrong eating things that were offered unto idols it was because in that church there were certain people saying hey yes let's give thanks these false gods for this food and they'll defile in the conscience of their brethren that's when it's wrong it's according to your conscience and according to the conscience of other people but again food on in of itself you know yeah you know some Buddhists for example they might have a Buddha statue and if you've seen this I see this a lot in Sydney and then they give them like to the statue they put like oranges it's like well we're offering these oranges to Buddha or whatever but then obviously the I was not gonna eat them so like for example I can think of I can think of a fruit market that's owned by a Buddhist family and you see like a Buddhist statue and then you see oranges of the wood it doesn't it wouldn't surprise me if after a while they take those oranges off that that statue and just put it amongst the other oranges so I might just come along buy oranges take oranges that were offered to the idol okay and I just it's just an orange it's just an orange I can eat of it right but if if as I'm purchasing them and the guy says yeah you know let's let's think Buddha or whatever for these food you know this food that's been offered to Buddha then I'm not going to eat of it because it's going to defile the conscience of the one that's telling me that that's that's a false believer that sorry that has a false religion and also it also may defile the conscience of fellow believers the wise why is Kevin eating of those oranges knowing full well they were offered unto idols does that make sense does that make sense when it's right to eat food that's been offered it's always right you have the liberty to eat you know if you're a strong Christian if you if your conscience is not being defiled you can eat food that was offered unto idols there may be many food products you purchase from the store that may have been halal approved or whatever you don't know offered somewhere to another God you just eat it you just take you just eat it because it's the Lord's okay everything belongs to the Lord and so it's fine to eat of it but if you're participating of a religious event that could cause the conscience of other people to be defiled then you should not eat of it that's when it's wrong because you need to consider the conscience of other people okay I hope that makes sense verse number 12 I'm sorry first Corinthians chapter 8 verse 12 I'm almost done here first Corinthians chapter 8 verse 12 but when you sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience you sin against Christ so again if I'm participating of that food sacrifice to idols it's not wrong in of itself but if you defile the conscience you hurt the weak brethren then you're actually sinning and you're not just sin against them but you sin against Christ you sin against Jesus Christ now let's take it let's take an application here not just talking about food offered unto idols think about certain things that you may do that can defile the conscience of a weaker believer you know and I'm kind of thinking about things like social media and Facebook and one thing that really disturbs me is when I see pastors on Facebook promote Hollywood movies or promote that they go into cinema to watch this movie now look I'm not saying every movie is sinful or wrong maybe they're look I'd be surprised if there is really a good movie out there without anything that before you know that that you know that doesn't bless theme God or something I'd be surprised but let's say there is hypothetically and you go to Facebook and you promote hey I'm gonna go watch this movie what's gonna happen to the weaker believers those that know full well hey Hollywood and the movies at the cinemas are full of filth full of you know nudity full of blaspheme blaspheme in the name of God full of false gods and and and you know the these these superheroes that are like gods or whatever you know Superman who's this this man sent from another planet to save mankind kind of taking over the role of Jesus Christ or whatever you know and you have a weak brother goes why why is this pastor going to the movies doesn't he know doesn't he know that you know it's bad and then you have other beliefs that say well worth the past is doing it then I can go and watch the movies and entertain myself with the world's entertainment he's working closet that one of them I think it's too open now be mindful about what you post on Facebook be mindful what you put on social media if you want to go watch that stupid movie go watch the stupid movie but don't promote it on Facebook especially when you're the leader of a church especially when you're a pastor you're a mature believer and there are people that look up to you because their conscience may be defiled okay and I think about other you here on the Sunshine Coast the beaches and then and and the bikinis and and how people the nudity that you just see when you go to the beaches hey if you're going to invite a fellow believer invited to someplace where you know at least it's probably safe right if you invite them to the beach and you know it's full of nudity you could very well defy you know default the conscience or your fellow believer they might say well why are you bringing me here do you think that's acceptable do you want my husband to set their his eyes upon these women or you know what my wife to set their eyes upon these men you know think about your fellow believers think about their conscience think about how you may defile other people and you may very well defile your own conscience while you're doing that okay be thoughtful think of you know before I became a pastor before I was sent out and ordained I went through all my Facebook photos everything that was I was tagged in and any photos that looks kind of questionable like for example there were certain work functions that I was at and I wasn't drinking alcohol but there was alcohol on the table because other people were drinking alcohol you know I untagged myself from that in case someone sees that photo and goes well Kevin has no problem going and and and drinking alcohol or something right so I removed myself from there you know I wasn't doing anything wrong even though you know I have the liberty to just sit there and be part of the function and just eat my food right and not partake of things that are sinful and wrong but someone might look at that and go well hold on is this is this okay for me then to go it and and you know go and party or whatever and and drink alcohol you can see how you can defile the conscience of a weaker Christian so be mindful if we're going to be charitable yes we have knowledge but if we have charity to go with it you need to be mindful how am I going to affect my fellow believers around me how are my actions going to affect those that do not believe on Jesus Christ because if I'm trying to get a Muslim family saved and I participate of their religious activities that's to Allah how in the word am I ever going to be able to convince them that the one true God of the Bible is the one they ought to convert to the one they ought to believe in if I've been okay with their religious ceremony and they're you know offering the foods the idols or whatever verse 13 1st Corinthians 8 13 wherefore now look at this extreme that Paul ends up with we're near the end now wherefore if meat make my brother to offend and this I know meat sometimes it's just food but this meat is actually meats like what we call me like flesh because then it says this if me make my brother to offend I will eat no flesh while the world stand of lest I make my brother to offend that's crazy that's pretty extreme right he says look if just eating meat eating chicken eating beef offends my brother then I will not eat meat at all I'd rather just live on herbs on salad on beans or whatever I'd rather eat that for the rest of my life to not offend my brother okay now I don't think that's realistic first of all you know obviously he's exaggerating but we see the charity in Paul we see the love in Paul that he has for his fellow believers that yes I have the liberty to eat a good meal but if that offends my brother then I will refuse to do that for my brother's sake not for my sake but for my brother's sake because I love them I have the knowledge but I have the charity and you know we need to be mindful sometimes when we have knowledge and we say hey I don't care where the chips may fall I'm just gonna give them the unfiltered truth of the Word of God and if they get offended and leave then so be it that's a wrong attitude have the charity to go with your knowledge now it's a different thing when you're preaching behind a pulpit it's a different thing when you're in a church because people that voluntarily are volunteering coming to the church know that they're coming to hear the Word of God preached they know they're coming to hear the Word of God preached in season and out of season they know they're coming to learn something they know they're coming to change something in their life they know that they may become uncomfortable with what is being preached they do so because they want to know the Word of God right you come to church wanting to hear the Word of God and let me say to you if you guys get a chance to preach then I don't want you to filter the Word of God I want you to speak the Word of God as it is spoken to the Word of God because we've come here to hear that but when you're talking to a brother outside of the church who's not necessarily volunteering to be made uncomfortable you need to keep in mind hey that person doesn't necessarily want to be chewed out and have their face ripped they need to be edified I need to encourage them I need to make sure I have the charity to go but so I don't defile their conscience and you need to have that in mind don't assume the way truth is taught behind a pulpit is the same way you take truth and teach your fellow brother outside of the church okay keep that in mind keep those things in mind and again I don't want anyone to think ah should I preach this that might offend anyone hey if it's the truth of the Word of God I want you to preach it boldly behind the pulpit okay so please knowledge is great but charity needs to go together with knowledge to be effective to build up other believers and not to destroy their conscience which ultimately is a sin against the Lord Jesus Christ let's pray