WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 We will look at this morning when we should shackle our liberties. 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:12.000 When should we imprison our freedoms? 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:29.000 But before we get into when and why, the when and why of shackling our freedoms and imprisoning our liberties, we need to know what we're talking about when we talk about Christian liberties. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:39.000 Now, this verse is going to tell us to think about our brothers, and sometimes we have to forego what we're free to do. 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:53.000 We have freedom in Christ to do certain things, but because those activities could be offensive to a weaker Christian brother or to withhold from doing such things. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.000 But what do we mean by Christian liberties? 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:01.000 Well, we got established, first of all, what we don't mean. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:06.000 We're talking about Christian liberties. We're not talking about the freedom to sin. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.000 Christians do not have freedom to sin. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:13.000 There is no liberty for us just because we're under grace. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:18.000 There's no liberty for us to break God's commandments. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:22.000 We're not to sin that grace may abound. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:30.000 We're not free to do away with the explicit commands of scriptures. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:42.000 There are many commands of scriptures and every one of them, from the greatest to the least, the greatest being, love God with all your heart, mind and soul, the least would be be kind to Jeff Johnson. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.000 Whatever the commands are. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:55.000 We're to obey every one of them. We're to obey the greatest and the least of the commandments. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:01.000 We do not hold the pushing away the third use of the law. 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:11.000 The first use of the law is that the law is to restrain evil in wicked man, and that it does. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:14.000 It seems to be doing it less and less these days. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:21.000 The second use of the law is to condemn us as sinners, that it would drive us to the gospel in Jesus Christ. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:30.000 But even as Christians, we hold to the third use of the law that the law is a means of instructions in righteousness. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:38.000 We're not as some who say, let's just live and do as what's in our nature and we're free to do what we want to do. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000 And we don't need the law anymore. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:48.000 The law is exempt. We're exempt from the law. No, the law is still normative over our life. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:57.000 It still has commands on us and we're to submit ourselves to every law, every command of scriptures. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:59.000 The law is binding. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:04.000 Now, it is true what Dr. Moore told us this morning in Sunday school class. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.000 It is true. The law cannot empower us to obey. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:14.000 It only reveals when we disobey and tells us what it is to obey, but it doesn't empower us. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.000 If you're going to obey the law of God, you have to be born again. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.000 You have to have the Holy Spirit. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.000 It's grace that teaches us to deny ungodliness. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:27.000 It's grace that empowers us to be obedient. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:33.000 But just because we're not seeking to obey by the law doesn't mean we don't seek to obey the law. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:38.000 It's the grace, it's the Holy Spirit that teaches us to obey God's law. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:42.000 The law is vital to the Christian. We love it. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.000 Now, you think about the Ten Commandments, which one do you not like? 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:48.000 Which one do you say, "I just don't care about that one"? 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:54.000 The commandments, if you meditate upon them, they're beautiful. They're wonderful. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:02.000 The psalmist, when he thought about the wall, he saw a reflection of the very nature and character of God. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:09.000 For us to not to love the wall is not to love God because the law is a reflection of his character. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:18.000 The law can be summed up in love, God your Father, and to love your neighbor as yourself. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:23.000 The law is wonderful. It's pure. It's clean. It's righteous. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:29.000 It's sin that's ugly. It's sin that's disgraceful. It's sin that we should hate. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:32.000 Transgression against the law is what we despise. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:38.000 So when we talk about Christian liberty, we're not talking about freedom to sin. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.000 None of us are free to sin. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:53.000 And though our sin does not separate us from a relationship with Christ that's secured in Jesus Christ and nothing we can do can take that relationship away. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:59.000 Our sin does impact our communion with Christ. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:02.000 It impacts us in a very detrimental way. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:08.000 In fact, God hates sin in Christian's life to such a degree that he's going to discipline us. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:19.000 And sometimes that discipline, depending upon the nature of sin, is going to be very severe and harsh and hard because God hates sin. And he loves us. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:22.000 He hates sin because he loves us. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:28.000 And it's like you parents, you don't want your kids doing things that are dangerous and hurtful and damaging. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Don't do that. That's going to hurt you. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:37.000 God loves us. And he says this stuff is forbidden because it's dangerous. It's hurtful to you. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:42.000 So God loves the law. And we're to love the law. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:54.000 Matthew five, Jesus teaches us in verse 19, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:06.000 And so I don't want to be charged with say, hey, we got Christian liberties and any of the commandments we're free to obey or free not to obey according to our own personal judgment and own personal convictions. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:12.000 No, our convictions are to be guided and governed by God's law. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 And we're not free to disobey. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:21.000 Christian liberties are not the freedom to break God's explicit commands. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:25.000 However, there are some issues. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:31.000 It's hard to know what God's judgment is upon the matter. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:36.000 The Bible does say all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:42.000 When it says all things are lawful in first Corinthians chapter 10, it doesn't say we're free to sin. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:51.000 It says within the arena of freedom, in the arena of things that are not explicitly sinful. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:56.000 And there's lots of things in that arena that we're free to do and not do. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:01.000 I was talking to one person this morning about the freedom to eat donuts. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:04.000 You know, that's one of those clear illustrations. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.000 It's we're free to do so. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:13.000 I think if anyone comes upon us as a hate donuts are unhealthy and because they're unhealthy, you're not taking care of your body. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:22.000 And you can make a case that not eating donuts is godlier or more holy because it's taking care of your body better. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:27.000 And so you could string out a case for restraining from eating sweets altogether. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:30.000 Could you not and build a case for that? 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.000 But in so doing, you're you're building a case. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.000 Maybe it's applicable for you. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:37.000 It is good for you because you're a diabetic or something. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:43.000 And you may need to uphold to those self-imposed restrictions and disciplines. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:52.000 But to impose it upon other brothers and sisters is to bring a Christian liberty and bring it into legalism. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:08:02.000 And so there are a lot of things that within their arena of freedom that we personally or individually have to make judgments for ourselves. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.000 What is wise? 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.000 What would be most pleasing to the Lord? 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.000 Maybe it's lawful, but maybe it's not profitable. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.000 Maybe it's it's good. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.000 I can do it, but maybe it doesn't build up. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.000 Maybe it's something I do need to restrain from that. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:22.000 I want you to understand when it comes to Christian liberties, we're all on a scale. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.000 It's a scale. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.000 I was thinking about illustrations and I got to be careful about the illustrations even that I use. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:36.000 But because our whatever illustration I'm not pull out is going to stir up emotions within you. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 And I'll I dare do it. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:48.000 But if we talk about what music we're allowed to listen to in this paragation, we're going to be divided. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:53.000 We would be we would be divided on that particular topic. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:09:00.000 And I'm going to tell you there are some music I cannot listen to. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:05.000 It's just I cannot I might not be ready to say you shouldn't listen to it. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.000 But boy, it can fix my conscience to listen to it. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:14.000 Maybe I'm the weaker brother, but we have to draw some line somewhere. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.000 Do we not? 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.000 It's kind of like modesty. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:21.000 Where is the line of modesty? 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:26.000 We would all have some general agreement that there is too far. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.000 That's just in modest. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:32.000 We would say if we could all come up with illustrations. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.000 OK, that is extreme. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.000 That's in modest and all of us would raise our hand. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:46.000 But then on that sliding scale of immodesty, we would all have different points where we raise our hand. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.000 That's getting close. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:50.000 OK, that's where I that's where I draw the line. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.000 I don't want my daughters, my daughter or my children dressing like that. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.000 And we raise our hand up. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:58.000 But at different levels. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:02.000 It's like how do we know where God's level is? 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:08.000 Now, all of us want to evaluate that. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:15.000 Point of holiness to the best that we can, according to God's wisdom. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:24.000 And hopefully we're using the scriptures and all of scriptures to kind of evaluate where we draw our own personal convictions. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:35.000 And so when I'm talking about Christian liberties and convictions, I'm not trying to get us to say, hey, the most spiritual ones among us have the most Christian freedoms. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:48.000 Nor do I want us to have a way down and be burdened down with all kinds of convictions to the point that we're afraid to do anything. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:55.000 So we all have to kind of work through these things ourselves. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:02.000 You see, liberties are activities that some Christians are free to enjoy while other Christians are not free to enjoy. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:13.000 Christian liberties relate to how we personally apply God's law to areas of our life that are not explicitly addressed in scriptures. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:18.000 And let me give you two illustrations. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:24.000 The illustration we'll see in our text in 1 Corinthians 8 is meat offered to idols. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:32.000 Now, one of the explicit commands is the first command thou shall have no other gods set before you. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:37.000 OK, that's command. We know that there's no liberty to worship other gods. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.000 That's clear. We all agree with that. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:51.000 Now, because of that command, it's easy to assume, oh, especially in the day where there was a lot of pagan worship and idolatry. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:12:02.000 And in the first century, especially in court, the food at the market would be sacrificed, portions of it would be sacrificed to an idol. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:10.000 And that would purify or cleanse the rest of the meat, making it kosher or available for sale. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:16.000 And you could go by that meat and know that it's blessed by a particular idol that was offered to. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:24.000 And you could take it with clean conscience if you're an idol worshipper that this meat has been purified, if you would, by the idol. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:35.000 Now, if you have this command as a Christian not to worship idols, any other god, you may think I cannot eat that meat in good conscience because that's entering into some form of idol worship. 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:40.000 That's entering into some pagan superstition. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.000 And I want to restrain from that. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.000 And many of them did restrain from that. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:53.000 But some, according to our text, was able to purchase this meat and eat it with a clean conscience. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:13:04.000 And so here's a clear illustration of a personal issue of conscience or Christian liberty that it's hard to put your finger on. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:05.000 Is this sin or not sin? 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:10.000 Of course, we know in this illustration, it's not sin to eat such meat. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:15.000 Now, I'll give you another illustration how it works. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:28.000 In the first century, the Jews, it became down into the tradition of the fathers that you couldn't eat without cleaning your hands, washing your hands. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.000 Now, that makes sense. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.000 We try to teach our kids that. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:46.000 But the reason the Jews impose that upon everyone is because the priests, the high priests and those serving in the temple, they had to have certain ceremonial worshipings for their cups and vessels in their hands. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:50.000 They would do these things because they were set apart for God's holy worship. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:14:00.000 And so the Jews begin to think, well, if that's good for the priest and if God deems that acceptable worship in the temple, then we should do it at home. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:11.000 So they're applying this principle of washing their hands and they go to washing their cups and vessels and pots and pans and even the chairs and couches that they set on. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:29.000 They got onto all these, if you would, legalistic applications of that principle, and they begin to apply that to everyone to the point that they begin to rebuke Jesus and his disciples for not following their traditions. 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:41.000 You see, this is where you're taking a explicit command of scriptures, if you would, and try to make further application in your own personal life. 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:47.000 Romans 14 talks about these Christian liberties as doubtful things. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:56.000 It uses the word "doubtful things," kind of identifying wisdom issues, or Christian liberties, or convictions. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:11.000 Verse 1 of chapter 14 says, "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but do not dispute over doubtful things." And it gives us four illustrations of doubtful things. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:28.000 Verse 2 says, "But one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables." So that's an issue of moral conviction. Some can eat meat. Some only eat vegetables. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:42.000 Verse 5, "One person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alive." And we can get into the Sabbath controversies of how people have different opinions on that. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:16:00.000 Verse 14, "I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus Christ there is nothing unclean of a cell, but to whom who considers anything to be unclean, to whom it is unclean." When you think about that, it goes into music. It goes into what you may watch or don't watch. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:06.000 All these things can be, well, that's clean. That's acceptable. That's not acceptable. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:18.000 Verse 23 says, "Happy is he who does not condemn himself in the wat that he approves, but he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:27.000 For whatever is not from faith is sin." The point is, is like if your conscience convicts you, don't do it. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:34.000 And if you're violating your conscience, you're not operating in faith. You're operating in sin. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:39.000 So there are some things that may be sin for you, but not sin for me, or vice versa. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:45.000 There may be some things that are sin for me, but not you. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:17:02.000 You say, "Well, I thought the law is absolute." Well, here we see the application of the secondary principles of the law are relative to our conscience and how we deem best to apply it in our particular situation. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:08.000 And so we have liberties and we have convictions. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.000 I don't mean. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:16.000 But sometimes we have to forego our liberties. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:30.000 Sometimes we may know, "I can do this. I can partake of this. I can eat this. I can drink this." But I shouldn't in the circumstances. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.000 Maybe I should forego what I'm free to do. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:38.000 And that's the point of 1 Corinthians 8. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:42.000 Now, sometimes it's hard to know when to stand fast for your liberties. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.000 Like, I'm not going to be controlled by someone else's conscience. That's not right. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.000 Just because you think what I'm doing is simple. I know I have a clean conscience before God. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:55.000 I'm not going to allow you to control me. And that's kind of our natural disposition. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:18:01.000 I'm going to do what I want to do. As long as I'm right with God, I don't care what you think about me. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:07.000 I don't care how you feel about my activities. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:18.000 You see, sometimes it's hard to know when to stand our ground and when to shackle our liberties. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:21.000 Think about Jesus Christ. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:33.000 You know, He got in trouble constantly because He went against the traditions of men. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:39.000 He constantly got in trouble because He offended people by what He did. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:50.000 One of the things He got in trouble for was Him and His disciples, or at least we know about His disciples, they would eat without washing their hands. And they blamed Christ for this. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:55.000 And Christ didn't go, "Hey, wait a minute, disciples. You're being unnecessarily offensive. 00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:00.000 Wash your hands so you don't offend them." No, He stuck up for His disciples. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:05.000 He said, "It doesn't matter what makes you clean is not your outward body. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:14.000 It's not what you put in your body. What makes you unclean is what's in your heart." And so He used it as a means to teach them the truth. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:19.000 And He stood up for the freedoms of His disciples. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:26.000 Think about when Jesus had the paralytic man in the temple pick up His mat. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:33.000 He says, "Pick up your bed and walk." Now, it was so busy in the temple area that He could just rise up and walk. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:35.000 The guy could have got up, been healed and walked. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.000 And no one would have known because it was so crowded. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:48.000 But because He says, "Pick up your mat," He's carrying a mat and the Pharisees saw it and they got offended because He's working, if you would, on the Sabbath day. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:52.000 Jesus could have avoided all that hostility. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.000 He could have avoided the scene by just saying, "Hey, leave your mat there. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:01.000 No one's going to get that ratty, dirty, faint. Anyway, it's not worth much. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:11.000 Just pick up. Just get up and walk." He could have done that, but He told them to do something He knew would stir up the scribes and the Pharisees against Him. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:17.000 Why did He do that? Because He's standing up for liberties. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:27.000 Paul did this in the church of Galatia when he says,"Stand fast therefore in the liberty which Christ has made you free. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:43.000 And do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage." So there's a time and place to hold fast to your liberties, especially when you have someone who's legalistically trying to control you by their convictions. 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:46.000 They're trying to manipulate you and they're judging you and condemning you. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.000 It's like, no, this is a time to stand up for your freedoms. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:58.000 And we'll see in a minute, it's because your freedoms and liberties are not going to get them to sin against their conscience. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:01.000 They're just trying to take their conscience and rule over you. 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:05.000 So there's a time and place to stand for your freedoms. 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.000 But there are other times when we must forgo. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.000 Think about Jesus when He paid the temple tax. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:37.000 They come up and said, "Do you not pay the temple tax?" And Jesus looked to Peter and says,"Hey, I am the Son of God. Do the children of the king pay taxes?" He says, "Though I'm exempt from the temple tax so that I might not cause an offense, you'll fish in and get the shekel to pay for you and for me." He did that simply not to cause offense. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:43.000 So sometimes Christ is purposely offending people, the legalists and Pharisees and scribes. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:52.000 Other times He's working hard not to be offensive and goes the extra mile to do something He doesn't even have to do. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:22:00.000 And we see that with Paul where he did not circumcise Titus but circumcised Timothy. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.000 For Titus, he says, you don't need to be circumcised. 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:09.000 You're standing up for your freedom because the Judaizers were requiring circumcision as a means of salvation. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:17.000 And because that's a form of legalism of adding works to the gospel, you have to stand up against that. 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:19.000 All did. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:28.000 But concerning Titus, he says, you should be circumcised or Timothy, you should circumcise because you're going to be working with the Jews. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:33.000 And so we don't need to have unnecessary offense. 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:50.000 Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 10, "Give no offense either to the Jew or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as also please all men in all things, not seeking my own prophet, but the prophet of meaning that they may be saved." So here's the question. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:55.000 When do we forego our liberties? 00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:02.000 When do we say I don't need to partake of that even though my conscience says it's okay? 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:08.000 Well, there's two occasions when we need to shackle or imprison our liberties. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.000 And there are six reasons why. 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:15.000 There are two occasions when we need to imprison our liberties. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:22.000 The first one we see verses 1 through 3, when our liberties are contrary to love. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:28.000 "Now concerning food offered to idols," verse 1 says, "we know that all of us possess knowledge. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.000 This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:36.000 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not know as he ought to know. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:42.000 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." So here's a basic rule. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:48.000 Here's a basic principles of knowing when to enjoy your liberties and when to forego enjoying them. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:54.000 "Operate from love." This is the great rule. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.000 This is the great law. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.000 Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:02.000 So operate in love. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:21.000 Romans 14.5 says, "If your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love." Romans 10.24, "Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being." You see, this is the end objective of the law. 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:32.000 So if you're just using your liberties as a selfish means of, "I'm doing what I want to do, when I want to do it, and I'm standing up for my rights," that's not loving. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:36.000 That's the very antithesis of the law. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:37.000 You're being selfish. 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:38.000 You're being self-centered. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:39.000 You're thinking about yourself. 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:45.000 You're not thinking about the well-being of others. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:55.000 I mean, there's a time and place to say, "I can't do this anymore because this is offensive." So operate out of love. 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:58.000 Second occasion, when to forego your liberties. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:06.000 We see in verses 4 through 7 as when your liberties become a stumbling block to the weaker brother. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:18.000 Verse 4 says, "Therefore, as to eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:37.000 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven and earth, indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, for whom all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all are all things and through whom we exist. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:42.000 However, not all possess this knowledge. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:26:18.000 But some, through formal association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled." So these are new Christians who have been brought out of idolatry, and though we may know from Scriptures that there's no such things as any other God than the real God, there are going to be some new Christians, especially in the first century, who still really believe that there were other deities, there were other real idols that were real gods. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:31.000 And so they didn't have the truth that there's this truth, and because of that lack of knowledge, their conscience convicted them that they didn't need to have any association with their former lifestyle. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:34.000 They didn't want anything to do with that, and you can understand that. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:38.000 You can understand someone says, "Listen, I've been delivered out of that? 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:52.000 That has enslaved my family. That's a generational thing on my father and my grandfather and my great-grandfather. I was in bondage to it, and now that I'm out and away from it, I don't want to look at it. I don't want to be near it. I don't want to see it. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.000 I don't want to touch it. I don't want to taste it. I don't want it in my home. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:01.000 I don't want it anywhere around me." You understand that, right? 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:06.000 I mean, because in their heart and their conscience, they just want to worship Jesus Christ. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:09.000 They truly love God, and they hate sin. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:27.000 And for us to go, "Hey, you're a weak, uneducated Christian, and you're in bondage, and us to be little them and go in and take our Christian liberties and plump them in front of them is very unkind and unloving, to say the least." It's not what God would have us to do. 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:35.000 He would have us to not be offensive, and it's easier for us to do without, to say no to those things. 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:43.000 And by the way, if there's something in your life that's a Christian liberty that you say,"I have to have," there's an idol in your life. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:50.000 We have to be willing to forsake everything for the well-being of God's people. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:56.000 Now, listen, a weaker brother is not a hard-nosed legalist. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:01.000 See, legalists are those who add works to salvation. We oppose legalists. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:18.000 Anybody says, "Faith in Christ alone, plus what you do, plus these rules, and plus this and that, before you're right with God, that we must oppose." That's what Christ did with the hand-worshing of standing up for the rights of the disciples there. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:25.000 That's what Paul did in Galatians 5.1, standing firm for our liberties. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:31.000 Legalists are those who push their convictions on others. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:35.000 Legalists are prideful and condemning. 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:50.000 We've all known someone in our past that have all these rules, and it's like they've got a list of things of don't touch, don't taste, all these things as Paul says have the appearance of godliness but deny the power thereof. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:29:09.000 They've got all these rules, a list of them, and if you don't conform to every single thing that the personal conviction they have, they look down on their nose at you, they don't associate with you, they say that you're a sinner, and that is the legalism that we want to fight against. 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:13.000 You see, legalists do not operate in love. 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:17.000 They're selfish and they're prideful. They're hypocrites. 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:23.000 The perfect example of the biblical legalist is the scribes and the Pharisees. 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:33.000 This is what Jesus says about them in Matthew 23,"For they preach, but they do not practice, they tie up heavy burdens hard to bear, and they lay them on people's shoulders. 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:37.000 But they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.000 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:46.000 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:51.000 You neither enter in yourself nor allow those who would enter to go in. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:30:00.000 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:11.000 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like white-horse tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and uncleanness. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:22.000 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." You see, we're talking about a weaker brother. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:31.000 We're not talking about a hard-hearted, self-righteous, demanding legalist. 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:32.000 We're talking about a weaker brother. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:44.000 We're talking about those who truly have a sensitive conscience toward sin, and they don't want to commit any sin that they think would be wrong in the eyes of God, and they're very tender. 00:30:44.000 --> 00:31:02.000 In fact, in some sense, we need to be careful that we don't become where we don't have a sensitivity to sin, that we lose that tenderness, that we go, "Well, I've got all these freedoms," and we forget that,"Hey, I want to be precise in my obedience. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:16.000 I want to be careful of how I conduct myself." You see, the weaker brother has a tender conscience and is operating out of the knowledge that they have. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:37.000 We see that in verse 7, "Howver not all possess this knowledge, but some through former association with idols eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defile." So in the presence of the weaker brother, our conscience is to be bound to their conscience. 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:40.000 This is what it means to operate in love. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:48.000 We willfully bind our conscience in the presence of the weaker brother's conscience. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:53.000 So we say, "I'm not going to do that," or be offensive in any way. 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:58.000 Now, those are the two occasions. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:10.000 We bind our conscience or we bind our liberties when love calls us or when our activities could be offensive or could cause people to stumble. 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:22.000 And then the rest of this text, verse 8 through the rest of the chapter, gives us six reasons, six reasons why we need to imprison our liberties when the occasion is right. 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:40.000 First reason, verse 8, "Because our liberties don't make us more spiritual, food will not commend us to God; we are no worse off if we do not eat, and we're no better off if we do eat." You see, this is not what's important in the eyes of God. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:46.000 These Christian liberties, we can talk about the donuts as just a funny illustration. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:51.000 You may or may not be better off physically. 00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:53.000 We can discuss that. 00:32:53.000 --> 00:33:01.000 But spiritually, you're not better off or worse off eating sweets in moderation. 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:04.000 It's not affecting your spiritual life. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:10.000 And so if it's not affecting your spiritual life, then you're no better off eating than you are not eating. 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:16.000 And we need to keep them in the proper evaluation of our freedoms. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:22.000 I don't have to have this because I'm not eating more spiritual because of it. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:35.000 Romans 14, 17, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, joy, and the Holy Spirit." So don't feel like you have to stand firm on these things that you can live without. 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:38.000 Remember, you can live without them. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:40.000 God knows you don't need them. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.000 They're not what's vital to your life. 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:54.000 The second reason we need to imprison our liberties when their time is right, we see that in verse 9 because our liberties could be a real stumbling block to others. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:34:10.000 Look at verse 9, "But take care that this right of yours," see, it's your freedom, it's your right, you have the privilege of doing it,"does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak." Okay. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:26.000 Romans 14, 1 says, "Except him whose faith is weak without passing judgment on his opinions." Now, I know sometimes those who have a lot of convictions judge those who don't have as many convictions. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:35.000 Romans says, "Don't do that either." But we who may have less convictions tend to judge those who have more. 00:34:35.000 --> 00:35:07.000 It's like when we go, "You're just a weaker brother." No, the Bible says, "Do not pass judgment upon them." Romans 14, 2, "For one person has faith to eat all things while another who is weak eats only vegetables." Verse 13, "Therefore, let us stop judging one another, instead make up your mind not to put any stumbling blocks or obstacles in your brother's way." Verse 20, "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food." All food is clean, but it's wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block. 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:18.000 I mean, imagine you've got someone who says, "Man, I can't eat this meat offered to idols." And you go over to his house and you're chewing on a T-bone, you know, and you're just doing it blatantly in front of them. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:22.000 And they saw you purchase it, you know, and you're just flaunting it in front of them. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:50.000 It's like, "Don't do that." Verse 21 of Romans 14, "It's better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble." Third reason, because our liberties could embolden others to go against their conscience. 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:52.000 How would it cause them to stumble? 00:35:52.000 --> 00:36:06.000 It's not necessarily they see you eating something, then they go, "Oh, I don't like that." The problem is they may actually do something against their conscience. 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:32.000 Look at verse 10, "For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged if his conscience is weak to eat food offered to idols?" And when you think about this, especially the young Christians, they may think,"Hey, this is sinful. I can't do this. I can't listen to that. I can't go to this place. I can't do this." And they have all these convictions out of their love for the Lord. 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:39.000 And their heart says, "Don't do stuff like that." And you don't have those convictions, but you go ahead and do it in front of them. 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:42.000 And you know they're weak in that area. 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:47.000 And you do it in front of them, and the next thing they know, they're feeling a little embarrassed. 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:49.000 They want you to judge them harshly. 00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:53.000 And for whatever reason, they're emboldened. They're encouraged. 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:56.000 They go ahead and go against their conscience, and they do it. 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:58.000 They partake with you. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:04.000 And you think, "Oh, this is a victory. I taught them the Christian liberties." And all the while in their heart, they feel condemned. 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:07.000 All the while their conscience is convicting them. 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:10.000 All the while they're doing it but not with faith. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.000 All the while they're doing it, and they're sitting against their conscience. 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:19.000 And you see, it's never wise or safe to go against your conscience. 00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:28.000 It is never wise to lead other people to go against their conscience, causing them to sin in their conscience. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:38.000 Now, it may not be sin for you, but if you go against your conscience, you're saying, "I don't care what you think, God." You really think God says this is wrong. 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:41.000 And you're going, "I don't care what God thinks about it. 00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:43.000 I'm going to do it because I don't want to be embarrassed. 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:53.000 I'm going to do it because I want to do it." Whatever the reason is, it's sitting against their conscience, and God views it as actual sin. 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:59.000 The fourth reason we are to chain our liberties is because our liberties could destroy the faith of others. 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:00.000 Look at verse 11. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:11.000 "And so by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother to whom Christ died." Romans 14, 15 says the same thing. 00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:17.000 "If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:27.000 Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died." I mean, this could lead this man or this woman down a path of sin. 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:29.000 It's like, "Well, I've messed up. 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:40.000 I've done this." And his conscience is condemning them, and on they go into greater sin. 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:49.000 Fifth, we should chain our liberties because our liberties could be sin. 00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:51.000 Look at verse 12. 00:38:51.000 --> 00:39:03.000 "Thus sinning against your brother and wounding their conscience, when it is weak, you sin against Christ." Now, you could do something that in other contexts you have freedom to do. 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:06.000 Eat or drink something or whatever it may be. 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:07.000 Listen to something. 00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:14.000 I mean, there's tons of things that we could put in this category of discernment, wisdom, liberties and freedoms. 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:17.000 There's tons of things we can put in that category. 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:31.000 But though you may be able to do it privately, enjoy it, and you know your conscience is clean before the Lord, and God is smiling upon you, and you have faith, you can do it for the glory of God, you may have that freedom. 00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:43.000 But if you do it in front of someone that causes them to sin against their conscience, then the Bible says, "Then you are sinning against your brother." And if you're sinning against your brother, you're sinning against Christ. 00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:45.000 Therefore, you're doing something. 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:48.000 Now your freedom is no longer freedom. 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:50.000 Now your freedom is sin. 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:53.000 And we don't have the freedom to sin. 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:59.000 See, our job is to love, to build up, not to destroy. 00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:06.000 Thus, our liberties can become sin if we're not careful. 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:09.000 6. The last reason. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:12.000 Because our liberties are not what's important. 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:16.000 This kind of comes back to the first reason. Look at verse 13. 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:27.000 "Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." I think this is what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 6. 00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:42.000 "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.""All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything.""Food is meant for the stomach and stomach for food." God will destroy both one and the other. 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:48.000 You see, whatever liberties we have, don't live and die for those things. 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:52.000 Those are things that are not what really matters. 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:57.000 What matters is love. What matters is building up others. 00:40:57.000 --> 00:40:59.000 This is what's important. 00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:02.000 Now let me close with some concluding guidelines. 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:05.000 Because, again, there's sometimes you have to stand up for your liberties. 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:12.000 You've got to know the difference between a legalist, a true legalist, and someone who has a weak conscience. 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:17.000 You know, a true legalist is not going to be tempted to do that. 00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:20.000 He's just going to judge you for it and condemn you for it. 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:23.000 Maybe you think you're not even a Christian because of it. 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:25.000 That's a true legalist. 00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:27.000 Stand up against them. 00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:40.000 But we're talking about those brothers and sisters that truly, truly want to love the Lord and says, "I can't do this because I see it as sinful." It's not proper for me to do this. 00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:45.000 Those you want to protect, those are the little ones. 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:54.000 The Bible says it would be better for you to have a millstone put around your neck and bone in the seed than to fin one of the little ones. 00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:57.000 You don't want anyone to sin against their conscience. 00:41:57.000 --> 00:42:00.000 You don't want to encourage anyone to go against their conscience. 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:03.000 And so we operate out of love. 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:05.000 That's the guideline. 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:08.000 What is loving? 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:13.000 Second, know the difference between a legalist and a weaker brother. 00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:26.000 My third and final rule of application to help us, when in doubt, so if you can't determine if it's a legalist or a weaker brother, when in doubt, go without. 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:32.000 When in doubt, it's better to go without something than stand up for something. 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:36.000 Let's pray. 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:45.000 The Lord, give us the wisdom to love our brothers and sisters, not wrangle over and fight over Christian liberties and freedoms. 00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:52.000 Lord, I pray that you had got all of our hearts to have convictions that are shaped by your word, that we have tender conscience. 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:57.000 Lord, let us operate out of love for your people. 00:42:57.000 --> 00:43:04.000 Lord, we know that the kingdom of God is not in eating and drinking. 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:07.000 That's not what's important. 00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:19.000 What's important is love and mercy and kindness and forbearing one long with one another, enduring even the scruples of others, as you've told us. 00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:28.000 Lord, give us the grace that we need to operate in a way that pleases you, not sinning against a brother or sinning against Christ. 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:31.000 This we pray in your Son's name. Amen. 00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:41.000 [BLANK_AUDIO]