1 Corinthians 8 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:001 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 1. Now
2. 0:02concerning things sacrificed to idols,
3. 0:05we know that we all have knowledge.
4. 0:08Knowledge makes arrogant,
5. 0:11but love edifies. Now, what is Paul
6. 0:14saying in that first verse?
7. 0:17He's saying, "Concerning things
8. 0:18sacrificed to idols,
9. 0:21the fact that we know
10. 0:24that an idol is nothing,
11. 0:26that their religion is nothing,
12. 0:28that means we have knowledge. That's
13. 0:31what Paul is referring to. We have
14. 0:32knowledge. So, we're allowed to eat it.
15. 0:36If if they make a burger and in the back
16. 0:39they bless some
17. 0:41dumb idol while making it, yummy, yummy,
18. 0:44I don't give a hoot because I have
19. 0:47knowledge. I know who God is. I know who
20. 0:50your dumb idol is. I don't give a hoot.
21. 0:53I have knowledge that sees through that
22. 0:55silly religion.
23. 0:56But Paul's point is that you need to be
24. 0:59careful
25. 1:01because that knowledge, though accurate,
26. 1:04and though it gives you liberty, it also
27. 1:06can make you arrogant.
28. 1:09So, he's saying, "I want you to think of
29. 1:11love instead. I don't want you to just
30. 1:15use your knowledge to do things that are
31. 1:18going to cause other people to stumble."
32. 1:21Cuz if you eat that burger,
33. 1:23it's not going to contaminate you
34. 1:25because somebody blessed an idol while
35. 1:26making it. But if you eat that burger in
36. 1:29in front of somebody who doesn't have
37. 1:32your knowledge and they think you're a
38. 1:35hypocrite,
39. 1:36then your knowledge puffed you up, but
40. 1:39love failed to build up that weaker
41. 1:42brother.
42. 1:43Concerning things sacrificed to idols,
43. 1:45we know that we all have knowledge.
44. 1:47Knowledge makes arrogant, but love
45. 1:49edifies. Literally, knowledge puffs up,
46. 1:52but love builds up.
47. 1:54So, love love puts substance to your
48. 1:56growth. Knowledge just puts air in it.
49. 1:59If anyone supposes that he knows
50. 2:01anything,
51. 2:03he has not yet known as he ought to
52. 2:05know.
53. 2:07But if anyone loves God,
54. 2:10he is known by him.
55. 2:13So, you're saying he's he's giving them
56. 2:15this subtle rebuke. He's saying, "You
57. 2:17guys are really destabilizing new
58. 2:20believers. You're freaking people out
59. 2:23because you've got knowledge." And I
60. 2:25agree, you're right. That's true. But
61. 2:27you don't know anything until your
62. 2:29knowledge is anchored in your love.
63. 2:32God doesn't care
64. 2:34what you know until he knows that you
65. 2:36care.
66. 2:40But if anyone loves God, he is known by
67. 2:43God.
68. 2:44Therefore, concerning the eating of
69. 2:46things sacrificed to idols, we know that
70. 2:49there is no such thing as an idol in the
71. 2:51world, and that there is no God but one.
72. 2:56No God but one. That's That's a good
73. 2:59comment from Paul.
74. 3:01For even if there are so-called gods,
75. 3:03whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed
76. 3:06there are many gods and many lords, yet
77. 3:10for us there is but one God. Oh, he says
78. 3:14it again. One God, the Father, from whom
79. 3:19all things are and we exist for him,
80. 3:23and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are
81. 3:27all things and we exist through him.
82. 3:31However, not all men have this
83. 3:35knowledge.
84. 3:36So, here's the knowledge that can puff
85. 3:38you up. Is any of that untrue?
86. 3:41That an idol is nothing?
87. 3:43Walk into the burger joint. I DON'T CARE
88. 3:45WHAT THEY BLESSED WHILE MAKING IT. PASS
89. 3:47THE BURGERS. Are you living in love?
90. 3:50Are you thinking about the new convert
91. 3:52who doesn't understand?
92. 3:54However, not all men have this
93. 3:56knowledge, but some being accustomed to
94. 4:00the idol until now
95. 4:03eat food as if it were sacrificed to an
96. 4:06idol, and their conscience being weak is
97. 4:09defiled.
98. 4:11When they came to Jesus,
99. 4:13they remembered that their whole life
100. 4:15they had dedicated this to a false god.
101. 4:18And now they're in a church that's like,
102. 4:19"Oh, there are no false gods. Just get
103. 4:21get on with it."
104. 4:23But he says, "Wait a minute.
105. 4:25They've done this for so long that it
106. 4:27feels like sin to them when they do
107. 4:29this. Give them space.
108. 4:32Show respect. Their conscience is
109. 4:34defiled.
110. 4:36But food will not commend us to God.
111. 4:40We are neither the worse if we do not
112. 4:42eat, nor the better if we do eat."
113. 4:45He says, "Food doesn't help us get
114. 4:47closer to Jesus.
115. 4:49You're not better off because you ate it
116. 4:50or worse because you didn't. It That's
117. 4:52not how it works."
118. 4:54But take care
119. 4:56that this liberty of yours does not
120. 4:58somehow become a stumbling block to the
121. 5:02weak.
122. 5:05There are things that God may let you do
123. 5:08or say.
124. 5:09Don't say them because you're a smart
125. 5:12alec who has knowledge, even if that
126. 5:14knowledge is that God is one.
127. 5:18Let love be your reason.
128. 5:20Let love and care and awareness of
129. 5:23others be your reason, and that will
130. 5:25build up the body. Otherwise, you're
131. 5:28just puffing up yourself.
132. 5:31For if someone sees you who have
133. 5:33knowledge dining in an idol's temple,
134. 5:37will not his conscience, if he is weak,
135. 5:40be strengthened to eat things sacrificed
136. 5:42to idols?
137. 5:44For through your knowledge, he who is
138. 5:46weak is ruined. The brother
139. 5:49for whose sake Christ died.
140. 5:54And so,
141. 5:55by sinning against the brethren and
142. 5:58wounding their conscience when it is
143. 6:01weak, you sin against Christ.
144. 6:06Therefore,
145. 6:07if food causes my brother to stumble, I
146. 6:10will never eat meat again
147. 6:12so that I will not cause my brother to
148. 6:15stumble.
149. 6:17Stop living for yourself. Stop asking
150. 6:21the question about what you have liberty
151. 6:24to do.
152. 6:25And ask the question, what does my
153. 6:28brother need? What do my brothers need
154. 6:31from me?
155. 6:33And he's saying, you've got enough
156. 6:34knowledge. You've got enough clarity
157. 6:36that you can go into a Hindu temple and
158. 6:39they can do some little chant about the
159. 6:41Indian food and it's just as yummy and
160. 6:43it doesn't hurt your conscience at all.
161. 6:45But if someone just converted from
162. 6:46Hinduism,
163. 6:48you're telling them it's okay. And when
164. 6:50they go into that place, maybe they take
165. 6:52it seriously and they think it's okay to
166. 6:54start eating food that is intentionally
167. 6:56devoted to a demon.
168. 6:58That's no longer you taking something
169. 7:00that someone else did something stupid
170. 7:02over and eating it with a clear
171. 7:03conscience. That's you opening the door
172. 7:06for someone to do something that could
173. 7:07take them back
174. 7:09to captivity in the false religion.
175. 7:11So, the whole point is stop living for
176. 7:15your own freedom
177. 7:16and live for love.
178. 7:18Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.