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Welcome to studies with Stearman. Join us as we look deeper into the Bible. Strengthen your faith with us even as we see the day approaching. And now here's Gary in Corinth. As you know, the whole community spirit, the life of the community in Corinth was pagan worship. The worship of the Delphian oracles, the worship of Diana, the worship of Apollo. And there were all these temples around. And the temples sacrificed meat to idols and then sold the fine cuts at the backside of the temple, kind of like a butcher shop. And the question arose in a letter written to Paul. By inference, we know that about whether or not one could partake of this meat that had been sacrificed to idols, or at least part of it had been. And so he's writing and he says, we know that all of us have some knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he knows something, he still has something to learn. But if he loves God, God knows him. Now, about eating meat that was sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world. There's only one God. Even if there are so called gods in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords, yet we have one God, the Father. From him comes everything, and we live for it. There's one Lord, Jesus Christ. He made everything we live by Him. But not everyone knows this. Some are still so used to an idol that they think of the meat that they eat sacrificed to the idol. And their conscience, being weak, is stained with guilt. Food will not bring us any closer to God. We lose nothing by not eating and gain nothing by eating. But be careful, because we Christians may fall into sin. Because you're doing as you please. If anyone sees you who have this knowledge lying down to eat in the temple of an idol, won't you be encouraging him who has a weak conscience to eat the meat sacrificed to idols? Then your knowledge is ruining the weak fellow Christian for whom Christ died. But when you sin against your fellow Christians in this way and wound their weak consciences, you sin against Christ. Oh, food makes my fellow Christians sin. I will never eat meat. I don't want to give them a reason for sinning. So there in plain English is 1st Corinthians 8. Let's look at what Paul is teaching here. And this comes on the heels of chapter seven in which Paul was talking about the principles of relationship, married life, the male, female relationships, and so forth. And if you recall, his chief idea is liberty. In fact, you can say that Paul's chief idea in all of his Letters is liberty. He's very, very concerned that people not be bound up in one or another form of legality that causes them to be very tight, straight laced, hyper puritanical, unable to move because they are so bound up in legalities. That's the problem that Paul addressed during all of his ministry. And so he starts out saying now as touching things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up. But charity edifieth, the good way to say that is knowledge inflates you, but love builds you. That's what it says in the Greek. Knowledge, Gnosis in the Greek. The idea that was so dear to the Greek philosopher, that if you really studied and could know all these things that man had written, you could be a better person. Well, not true, because you can study and study and study all of the humanistic philosophies in the world and you get puffed up, but not really built up. Knowledge is always in Paul's mind out here one side, love is out here on the other side. And Paul's always trying to build balance into people's lives. Knowledge is thought to be the answer to everything, even in our 21st century society. Knowledge. Hey boy, get a degree, read books. You can read all the books in the world. But if you don't know the Lord, if you don't love the Lord and know his love, all you're going to get is puffed up. It's the truth, and people should remember that. In fact, Paul says, if any man thinks that he knows anything, the second verse. If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. What does that mean? I like to go over to Philippians. Philippians 3 has a really interesting statement in it. Philippians 3:10 says, and these are Paul's words concerning faith. His number one priority was Philippians 3:10, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained either, were already perfect. But I pursue, I follow after I run after him, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Here's Paul, who was personally taught by Jesus, the resurrected Christ, and he makes this astonishing statement. He says, my main goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection. And he says, I don't pursue him as though I already had attained perfection. I pursue him trying to catch hold of the higher things of Christ. In other words, even the great apostle Paul didn't consider that. He had it all completely down. And altogether he said, there are still things that I need to know. This is the attitude, I think, of a believer in Christ. You never really understand. All you do is pursue. That's what he's saying here in First Corinthians 8:2. If any man think he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. That's a pretty astonishing statement because just between you and me, I've run into some Christian know it alls in my day who rather spoke down to me, saying, well, there are things that I know that you don't know. And by the way, it's easy to speak down to me. That's the way God intended for it to be. I've been told by people that, gee, there's a lot you don't know. Well, I agree. I totally agree. That's what I always say. There's a lot I don't know. Verse 3 says, but if any man love God, the same is known of him. That's interesting. If any man love God, the same is known or recognized of him. And isn't that the main thing, to have the assurance that the Lord knows you? You remember what Jesus said about some of those people who cried, lord, Lord, he said, on that day they're going to come to me, and they're going to come to me as the high and the mighty. And he'll turn to them and he'll say, I never knew you. That would be the most horrible thing you could possibly ever hear. You go before Jesus and he says, I don't know you. Well, verse three here says, if any man love God, the same is known of him. To be known of God is really an astonishing thought or idea. 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. There's none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or earth, as there are gods many, and lords many, well, in Greece there they had dozens of lords and gods. They had dozens of temples with all the different kinds of gods set up in there. But he says, Verse 6, but to us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things. Now you stop and think about this. Have you ever hesitated at the door of a Chinese restaurant because they have dragons in there. And there's one Chinese restaurant here in town that I know of, where as you go past the front door, there is a little electric Buddha plugged in, has lights on it. And in front of this little Buddha, there's a plate with the daily food, the various food items laid before him as sacrifices. And you walk past that as you go in to eat. And I'm saying, is it okay for me to go in here and eat where they sacrifice food to Buddha? What do you think? What if I have a brand new Christian with me who says, I don't think God would like it if we go in here and eat because there's food being sacrificed to Buddha? I'm just not comfortable with this at all. What do I say to that guy? Well, I'm comfortable. Come on in, let's go eat. I eat here all the time. Or Paul suggests we might be a little bit sensitive about this. Well, listen, Bob, if you're really uncomfortable, maybe, you know, we could go someplace else. There's another restaurant right down the way here. Seriously, I'm willing to go someplace else. That's what Paul's talking about. Be sensitive to the spiritual state of other people. You yourself recognize there's only one God. And if somebody sacrifices food to Buddha, it's not going to condemn your body to go and eat in that place. It was much more serious for the Corinthians because they didn't just have a little Chinese restaurant with an electric Buddha. They had huge edifices that were the main buildings in town where food was sacrificed to the gods all the time. And the place to get meat was to go to the temple and. And get that meat. There's just one God. He knows you. He knows who you are. He knows your heart. He does not deal with you on a legal basis. He deals with you on the basis of love. And this is Paul's heart message in all of his epistles. He always weighs legality versus love, legality versus love. And he realizes that carnal Christians, young Christians, baby Christians, get tied up in legalities, but mature Christians operate in love and absolute freedom. That's got to be balanced. Use not your freedom in Christ as an occasion to sin. Everybody knows Romans, chapter six, right? It begins with a question. What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin? That grace may abound? Why would he ask that question? Well, because. And here is something that Paul says. And I say, and I get in trouble for this all the time. But hey, that's all right. Paul says, you're free to sin. You're no longer under the law. You're absolutely free to sin. And I get in trouble for saying that all the time. Paul's idea, so strongly impressed in all of his epistles, is that he understands that the love of God operates on one balance point, and that balance point is liberty. If you take away the liberty of a believer and begin to substitute various kinds of strictures and legalities, bit by bit by bit, you chip away at the love relationship that we have with God. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, since you're free to sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. He says, no, if you're free to sin, you're also free not to sin, which is a highly superior way to operate. To know that you're free to sin also means you're free not to sin, and therefore you don't. And you're far less likely not to sin if you're operating in the love of God than if you're operating under law. That's Paul's chief message. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? This principle goes all the way through First Corinthians. You know, Romans 8 says this 8, 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. Sin's just out there somewhere. If you're really operating under grace and in the love of the Lord, sin is in another galaxy. It's just someplace else. He asks the question again in Romans 6:15. What then shall we sin because we're not under the law, but under grace? He says, God forbid. It's that principle that runs all through First Corinthians and in chapter 8. The principle of liberty, the principle of love, the principle of dealing with someone whose faith is not as strong as your faith. There's no law attached to that, but rather the idea of love. Verse 7. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. People do things that they know are wrong, or at least that they think are wrong, and they struggle along under the burden of that sin. The burden of something perceived as sinful can be a horrific burden. There are a lot of people who live in guilt. I've met a lot of Christians who live in guilt. They continue to do things they know are not quite right, but they continue to do them anyway because they are commonly done and convenient. And a lot of Christians operate under a burden of guilt for years and Years and years until somebody comes along and says, you're free. You're absolutely free. I am? Yeah, but I do this thing that I shouldn't be doing. Well, don't do it anymore. You're free not to do that. I am? Yes. How am I going to quit? Well, you have the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling. You rely on that. Well, I don't know how to do that. We'll find out how to do that. Well, how do you do that? Same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, practice, practice, practice. Yeah, but I need somebody to come along and clamp the law on me, so I won't do that. Paul says, forget the law. Think about the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the whole thrust of this message. And then think about this weaker brother. He says here in verse eight, meat. And the Greek word is broma, which means food in general. Food commendeth us not to God. Your diet doesn't commend you to God? Wow. Well, I don't know. I like deep fried stuff. Bad for my heart. Should I eat that because I'm sinning against my body? I know that when I eat that deep fried chicken, I really shouldn't be doing that. You know, I eat pork and I keep looking at the Old Testament. It says you shouldn't eat pork. I'm really feeling guilty about that. And besides, somebody came to me the other day and announced to me that he doesn't eat pork and says I shouldn't either. Well, food doesn't commend you to God because you're not under law. That means I can eat all the fried stuff I want. Taters, chicken, chicken fried steak. Man, I can load myself up until my cholesterol reading is 450. Right. Well, you're free to do that, but maybe there's a better way. You're also free not to do that. This principle cuts all the way through Paul's teaching. Everywhere you find it. You're free not to do that. Yeah, but I'm weak. I need somebody to stop me. Oh, really? Well, get strong. Well, how do I do that? Well, you pray. You have the Holy Spirit to buoy you up, to bring you along, to guide you, to empower you. Yeah, but I've never done that. Well, start doing it. Well, how do you do that? Same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, practice, practice. You do. And Paul kept beating people over the head everywhere he went with this idea. You have freedom in Christ. You have the freedom to be the kind of person he wants you to be and that you want to be. You have access to the spirit of God and the power of the Spirit in the love of God. Food doesn't commend you to God. Verse 8. For if you eat, are you better for having eaten a certain thing? Or if you don't eat a certain thing, are you worse? No. Here's the thing. Verse 9. Take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block. And here's the funny thing about this sentence. Paul in his writings used the word liberty all the time, over and over again. If you want to drag out your concordance and have a good Bible study, look up the word liberty and see how Paul uses it. Usually it's a translation of the Greek word Eleutheria. Eleutheria in the Greek means freedom without bondage. It means being cut free, set free at liberty. It means everything our constitutional framers said liberty was. It means you are free. But here in this verse, verse 9, where he says, but take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block. That is not the Greek word eleutheria. That's the Greek word exousia, which means authority. So you can read this verse 9. Take heed, lest by any means this authority of yours become a stumbling block to those that are weak. Not only do you have liberty in Christ, you have authority in Christ. That's an astonishing concept if you stop and think about it. Here. Translated, liberty. You have the power to do certain things. This was the giant argument between Christ when he was alive, and the Pharisees, who operated under very tight strictures. And they said, you can't do this, can't do this, you can't do this. You can't do this. You can't do this. You can't do this, and you can't do that. 613 times they said that Jesus came along and said, I can do this, I can do this. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. And then after he was resurrected, he taught his apostles that same idea. You can do this. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We have authority in Christ, which is pretty astonishing. Authority. Real authority. Authority to do anything you want? Yes. Should you do anything you want? No. You mean you are a free agent? Yes. How free are you? Very, very free. Well, if I'm that free, should I sin that grace may abound? What did Paul say? Me genoite? Not in any way, God forbid, but to me, Christian Maturity is finding out who you are in Christ. And once you find out the freedom and the power you have in Christ, and once you begin to grow, wow, the things you will do in Jesus name are virtually unlimited. And I'm not talking about getting a degree from a theological seminary. You might want to do that, but I'm talking about operating in the power of Christ. And every believer can do that. You don't have to have advanced degrees to do that. You need the love of God and the power of the Spirit. And you develop a sensitivity. You develop a. Well, Paul uses the term the mind of Christ. He says, we have the mind of Christ, verse 10 here. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple. In other words, if you're eating in the temple of an idol, like the giant Corinthian temple of the Delphic oracle, for example, which was at the Acro Corinte, it's the main temple, huge edifice, wealthy, powerful people gathered there, and it was a good place to go to buy food. Any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat or sit eating at 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 God died. In other words, if you encourage a weaker brother to operate in freedom who has not yet developed the kind of close relationship with God through Christ that he should, maybe he's five years away from that, and you encourage him to go ahead and to do what you're doing, you may endanger his Christian walk. And you always need to be sensitive to that. In fact, it's not just food we're talking about here. It is being sensitive to the needs of a weaker brother that really should pervade our thinking at all levels. But when you sin and so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. In other words, you need to be sensitive to someone who does not have the close relationship that you have with God through Christ. And believe me, it's not common in Christendom to have a very, very tight, close, working, perfected relationship with God through Christ. It is not common. And you yourself, from your own experience know that it's not common. There are a lot of people who claim to be Christians who really, really, really need to grow, and they're stuck. You know that from your own personal experience. And Paul here is urging sensitivity to that, to those with whom you circulate. Chapter 9 and I'm going to go back and read from chapter 9 in the Beck the Modern Language Bible. First Corinthians 9. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Didn't I see Jesus our Lord? Aren't you my work in the Lord? If I'm not an apostle to others, I certainly am one to you. You are the Lord's seal. But proves I am an apostle. That's how I defend myself before those who examine me. And by the way, Paul was constantly examined and cross examined on his right to be an apostle. Paul got off to a very bad start. He was like a lot of us, we don't have a perfect early life. Paul was a Jewish legalist, a member of the Sanhedrin, and you didn't want to cross Paul. You could end up dead, literally. He was the toughest legalist in the world and would have ended up being the high rabbi. He would have ended up being the next Hillel if Jesus hadn't brought him down on that road to Damascus. Paul knew the law like nobody's business. Now he comes along and says, I'm an apostle to the risen Christ. And people are whispering around saying, hey, this is the same guy, Saul of Tarsus, who's killing a bunch of Christians at one time. And wow, he used to go around, hunt people down, break up families, bring people before the Sanhedrin for sentencing to death for being apostates. So all of his life, his apostleship was questioned. And that's what he says here. He says, that's how I defend myself before those who examine me. Don't we have the right to eat and drink? Don't we have the right to take a Christian wife with us like the other apostles, the Lord's brothers and Peter. Peter was married. James and Jude were married. Paul had been married, but apparently was a widower. We know that because you couldn't be a member of the Sanhedrin if you were single or do only Barnabas. And I have the right to stop working for a living. Interesting. Paul's so pragmatic, it's mind boggling. Sometimes when you really read what he's saying, you say, did he really write that? He said I can stop doing what I want to do. I'm free to do that, by the way. And he says, I'm doing what I do because I love it. Not because anybody's making me, not because I'm getting paid, and not because there's a law that says I have to do it. And that's the thrust of chapter Nine. He says, does a soldier ever pay his own expenses? Now he's starting to argue. Here Paul begins to make an argument about paying the preacher. And I can't tell you how many times we've had young preachers in our audience like that over the years. And they've grown up to be fantastic people. So that's okay. No problem. Listen to this argument from Paul about paying a preacher. Does a soldier ever pay his own expenses? Does anyone plant a vineyard and not eat its grapes? Does anyone take care of the flock and not drink any milk from it? Am I stating only a human rule? Doesn't the law say the same thing? The law of Moses says, don't muzzle an ox when he's treading out the grain. Is God here talking about oxen? Surely he has us in mind. He said, hey, I'm treading out the grain. I've got a right to be paid. And if you just read to this point, it looks like Paul is making an excellent argument for paying the preacher. And Paul says, this was written to show us when we plow or thresh, we should expect to get a share of the crop. If we have sown the spiritual life in you, is it too much if we'll reap your earthly goods? If others have the right to expect this from you, don't we have a better claim? Of course he did have a better claim. You pay other people. Maybe you should pay me even more. And then he says, but we. And here he speaks of the office of the apostle. He says, but we haven't made use of this right. No, we put up with anything in order not to hinder the preaching of Christ. Don't you know that the men who work at the temple get their food from the temple? Those who help at the altar get their share of what's on the altar. In the same way, the Lord has ordered that those who tell the good news should get their living from the good News. Well, he's still making a really strong case here for paying the preacher. But I haven't used any of these rights. Paul says, I don't take a salary. In other words, on the one hand, pay the preacher. But on the other hand, hey, I'm not demanding that you pay me. And I'm not writing this to get such things done for me. I'm not campaigning to get paid. He says, I'd rather die than let anyone take away my boast. If I tell the good News, I have nothing to boast about. I must tell it. I'm compelled to tell The Good News. Woe to me if I don't tell the Good News. If I do it because I want to, I get a reward. But if I don't want to do it, I still have this work entrusted to me. What then is my reward? Just this. When I tell the Good News, I won't let it cost anyone anything, and so I won't take advantage of my right in telling the Good News. In other words, as we learned back in Acts 15, Paul is a tent maker by trade, earns his living by making tents, does not demand a salary, even though he makes a very, very good case for a salary, goes to all the trouble to make a biblical case for why I should be paid. And then he says, nevertheless, I am not asking to be paid. I don't want to be paid. I'm not asking for a salary. What is my reward? We'll talk more about that in just a minute. Verse 19. Although I am free from all people, I make myself a slave of all them to win more of them. Paul says, I am free. I am free. Is there anything new in that? Paul says it over and over again. Someday I've got to count the number of times he says I am free. It's got to be up above 100 in all his epistles. Is there anything new in this? Absolutely not. But there is something new here. He says, although I am free from all people, I made myself a slave of all of them to win more of them. Paul says, I am so free that I can make myself a slave. I am that free. Well, isn't that a great irony? I am free enough to make myself a slave. And by the way, the Greek word is doulos, which means a bond. Slave, slave in chains. That's like the old philosophical question, Can God make a rock heavy enough that he can't lift it? Since God can do anything, can God create a rock that is so heavy that he can't lift it? Well, while you're thinking about that, and if you come up with the answer, let me know. Think about this. Can I be free enough to totally enslave myself and still be free? It's the same sort of a conundrum, isn't it? Yet it is exactly what the Christian life is. You're absolutely, utterly free, and yet you're a bond servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can this be? Well, if you come up with the answer, let me know. Verse 20. To the Jews, he says, I became like a Jew to win Jews to those under the law. I became like a Man under the law, although I'm not under the law. He wants to point that out. To win those under the law. To those who don't have the law. I became like a man without the law, although I'm not outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ. To win those who don't have the law. To weak persons, I became weak to win the weak. I've been everything to everyone so that in every way I might save some of them. I'm doing everything for the good news that is the gospel. In order to have a share of what's given. Don't you know that all who run in a race run, but only one wins the prize? And here Paul uses an athletic metaphor. Paul uses many athletic metaphors because Paul was a sports fan. Now I'm not a sports fan at all. I don't go watch basketball, football, whatever. I'm not a sports fan. Paul was a sports fan. You can tell by his writing. He uses sporting metaphors. He talks about high jumping, he talks about shadow boxing, he talks about running the marathon, he talks about the short dash, he talks about the hurdles. He uses all kinds of Greek athletic terms to make spiritual points. And by the way, he grew up in Tarsus. He got a PhD from the University of Tarsus. And the University of Tarsus hosted the Tarsian Games, which were bigger than the Athenian Games. The Tarsian Games back in the days of Paul when he grew up were like the World Series and the Olympics and the PGA playoff, whatever you can think of, all rolled into one. The Tarsian Games were huge. And Paul grew up in this atmosphere. So he says, don't you know that all who are in a race run, but only one wins a prize like them run to win. Anyone who enters into a contest goes into strict training. Now, they do it to win a wreath that withers, but we do it to win one that never withers. So I run with a clear goal ahead of me. You know, this athletic metaphor answers the big question. How can you be free and be a slave? Because you're like an athlete. You have decided to bond yourself to a pursuit that requires incredible discipline. And you've decided to do that on your own. You're free to make that choice. You don't have to make it, but you can. And Paul did make the choice to go into strict training and to run, just run like crazy. Now, Paul was bandy legged, short, bald and had weak eyes. If you read the physical description of Paul from the early church fathers, he was no athletic figure, but I'm here to tell you Paul was a fighter. He was a fighter. He fought to the death and came back from the dead on one occasion in Lystra and fought again until he was finally beheaded by Nero. He was a fighter. He says, they do it to win a wreath that withers. We do it to win a wreath that never withers. Do you see yourself as a fighter for the Lord? Are you ready to go in there and do it? Hey, do it. That's what Nike says. Just do it. You know, that's their famous tennis shoe slogan, the Nike Swoosh. How did I know about that? I'm not a sports fan anyway, he says, so I run with a clear goal ahead of me. I fight. He said, I don't just shadow box. And here he's using the figure of a boxer, training. He says, no, I beat my body to make it a slave, so that when I've called others to the race, I myself will not somehow be disqualified. Liberty, the freedom that we have in Christ, is utterly unbounded. We're even free to make ourselves slaves for the cause. You know, in Galatians, which is Paul's heart cry, he says, in Galatians 5:1, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. You can get entangled in various and sundry kinds of legalities that render you worthless. On the other hand, you can make yourself a slave to Christ, and you become bonded to him in such a way that you become very useful. Nobody else is enslaving you. You're enslaving yourself. It's something you do by your own choosing. Now, I know that may be offensive to some, you don't believe in free will. But I believe in free will. I believe in the ability of a man to make a choice throughout his Christian walk. You can choose Galatians 5:13. For brethren, you've been called unto liberty. Eleutheria. Absolute freedom from any sort of bondage anywhere, anytime, anyhow. He says, but don't use liberty for an occasion. To the flesh you're free to do anything, but don't use it in a fleshly lustful way, selfish way. But by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. What's your neighborhood like when you stand on your front porch and look up and down the block and across the street and around the corner and so forth are your neighbors all Just beatific, wonderful Christian folk who sing hymns in the evening. You can just hear them in their dining room and they're praying. Why, these people, they practically have the light of God over their head. You live in such a wonderful neighborhood. All of your neighbors are this way, and they speak and you learn from them because they know the Bible so well. All your neighbors. And you just praise God for what a wonderful neighborhood you live in. Why, I don't know of any of my neighbors that aren't just perfected Christian believers. Or do you live in a neighborhood like I live in? I can stand on my front porch. I don't even want to tell you about my neighbors. I certainly wouldn't tell you what they do. Not here. I wouldn't. One day I was standing on my porch and the words of the Lord came into my head. Paul quotes those words right here. For all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Wow. Well, I was convicted right then and there. I'm going to be nicer to Steve. Well, you don't know Steve. You wouldn't have wanted to know Steve. He's passed on now. Really, you wouldn't. What's your love life like? That's what Paul is talking about. To the Corinthians. They have written him a letter. First Corinthians 7:1 says, now, concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me, apparently they wrote to him. They asked him a lot of questions. They were life questions. We live in a very sinful city with a lot of pagan temples. There are breakups in marriages. There are believers married to unbelievers. Here we got all kinds of problems, and they list all the problems. Paul writes the letter, the first Corinthians letter, back to them to answer their questions. And when you just back up a couple of steps and read the letter, what are you reading? You are reading about love, that the operant principle in life is love. And if you really have the love of Christ flowing through you, you can deal with these life problems. First Corinthians 9. Am I an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord? Wow. Paul is using personal private matters to illustrate Christian liberty in this chapter. Remember back in First Corinthians 6:12, Paul wrote this. He says, all things are lawful unto me. Now that's a statement. All things are lawful unto me. Now, I'm sure you've got a list of things in your head that are rotating through there, right now. You mean you fill in the blank. You mean that's lawful for me? Yes. How about that other thing that just popped into my head? You mean that's lawful for me? Yes, it is. Well, how about that other thing, that thing that we don't talk about? Is that lawful for me? Yes, it is. All things are lawful for me. Yeah, but what about that other thing? Yep, that too. Even that one? Yes. Paul writes, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, he says, but I will not be brought under the power of any. That word expedient in the Greek is. The Greek term means advantageous or profitable. All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are advantageous or profitable. Well, how do I tell which is which? Doesn't somebody need to write me a list of things so that I'll know which things are lawful and which things are not lawful, so that I can then avoid all those things? Well, I'm just sitting here on this stump of this old tree waiting for somebody to come along with a list so that, for heaven's sakes, I'll know what I can and what I can't do. Right? See, that is the state of most in Christendom today. Give me a list. Please give me a list. Christianity has not one single list ever, anywhere, anytime I get in trouble for saying that, But I'd be glad to have a discussion with anyone about it. How much better it is to have the indwelling Holy Spirit flowing through you and informing you millisecond by millisecond, what you must do to please him. That's the goal. First Corinthians 10:23. Paul says it again. He says, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are sum, ferro, advantageous or expedient. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. So you come back to chapter nine. He says, my answer to them, nine, three that do examine me or criticize me. And by the way, he got criticized all the time because these are dangerous words. They are. They are not for the immature. Paul got criticized viciously all of his life to the point of being stoned to death because he said, I'm an apostle, taught personally by the Lord. I was a Pharisee. He pulled me into absolute freedom. And now I'm going out and giving the good news that all you people are free, too. And there were people who said, freedom will kill us. We can't have freedom. We've got to impose Law. We've lived by legalities for generations. We can't have freedom, it'll kill us. And Paul says no. He says, my answer to them that do criticize me is, have we not the power to eat and drink? Have we not the power to lead about a sister or wife, as well as the other apostles as well as the brethren of the Lord, Kiphas, Peter or I only and Barnabas? Have we not power to forbear working? He said, I'm not doing what I'm doing because of exterior compulsions or compunctions or legalities. I'm doing what I'm doing because I love it and I have an inward drive and a calling to do it. You can't write any law about that. That's what he's talking about. And this is the place then where he launches into his pay the pastor section makes a really excellent case for paying the pastor, only to say, I personally don't take a salary. Why would he do that? Why would he launch into this wonderful case on thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the corn if he doesn't intend to clinch it with, and you need to pay me double because I'm a really good apostle? He doesn't do that. He says, as for me, I don't take a salary. What he's doing is making a point. And the point is I do what I do for the love of it, for the calling of it, because I am led of the Lord to do it and I can't do anything else. He's making the point. He's making the chief point about Christianity. It is a love relationship with the living God through Christ. It's alive, it thrives, and it makes you a living walking example of his love and not some cold, icy, indignant judge of who's doing right and who's doing wrong. The difference between law and love is the difference between time and eternity. That's the vision that we have here. Coming down to verse 17 here of First Corinthians 9, says, for if I do this thing willingly, that is, if I preach the gospel, I have a reward. But if against my will a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me, what's my reward then? Verily, that when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. And if you go over to Philippians 4, 5, rejoice in the Lord, he says. And again I say, rejoice, Let your moderation be known unto all men. And moderation Here is the Greek word that means self control. Self control. It means having an internal model of behavior that makes you a walking, living example of Christ. Let your moderation be known unto all men. Isn't it better to walk the walk of the Lord rather than to be forced to walk the walk of the Lord? Of course. And then he says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. In other words, you are living, you are walking, you are inwardly driven, you are called compelled. If you decide, and of course it's your decision if you decide to make yourself a slave to give your total service to God, he'll take you at your word and he'll move you along in ways that you never thought that you could be moved before. Paul says, for though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself a servant that is a slave unto all that I might gain. The more that about says it all. For me, it's all about love and the love of God. And in the end, I don't have any more words. Read the book.