Puffed Up or Building Up? (2)

Introduction:

Quick Review

We are about halfway through the book of 1 Corinthians!

Chapters 1-4 ---- Divisions in the Church

Paul in this section focuses on all that Christ has done to bring us together.

Chapters 5-7 ---Sex & Relationships

Here Paul has focused on the marriage relationship and the validity of it even after coming to know Jesus.

If you are married when you come to know Jesus – stay married!

It doesn’t matter if you are married to an unbeliever at the time of your salvation..

The holiness of Jesus is not fragile and is instead contagious.

By staying with your spouse the holiness of Jesus very well may spread to your children and even to your spouse.

Chapters 8-10 --- Food

1 Corinthians 8:1 --- “Now concerning things sacrificed to idols”

The world we live in is much different than the world of Corinth in the 1st Century...

Temples and Meat sacrificed to idols - encompassed the restaurants of the day!

If you wanted a good meal for not a lot of money - you went to the Temple.

If you wanted a place to hang out with your friends and enjoy a meal together - you went to the Temples. Homes didn’t often have the room for people to gather together in large groups so you could almost think of the Temples of the day as rentals.

If you wanted a safe meal - you went to the Temple.

Often times people depended upon the gods to purify the meat from demons and evil spirits.

Just like today, people got sick from bad meat or under-cooked meat. Unlike today, people attributed these sicknesses and even death to evil spirits rather than bacteria.

So, they depended upon these gods to purify the meat before they ate the meat.

If you didn’t take your meat to the Temple it was believed that the demons in the meat would make you sick or even die.

When someone brought meat to the Temple...

1/3 of that meat went to be burnt before the gods in order to please them.

1/3 of that meat went to the priests to be enjoyed by themselves or sold to make money for themselves or the Temple.

1/3 of that meat was to be enjoyed by the one bringing the meat to the Temple.

So - This issue is much larger than we think when we think about meat sacrificed to idols.

If you were to give up all that had to do with idol worship - here’s what it would look like for us today...

You’d be giving up restaurants.

You’d be giving up places you might need to rent in order to get the whole family together.

You’d be giving up a whole way of thinking about health and wellness that you were used to.

You’d be giving up the cheapest places to shop for food.

So - How did the church of Corinth respond to all of this? How did they deal with idol worship and the food that had been offered to these false gods? Did they allow people to eat it? Did they allow people to gather in these Temples? Did they condemn any such connections with these false gods?

You can see how this would be a difficult problem for the church of Corinth to deal with!

The temptation with such an issue is simply to try to know what is right and what is wrong and then act accordingly. The temptation is to base decisions concerning such things squarely on knowledge.

But Paul grows the vision of the church in our text for today. He grows their understanding so that this isn’t just a matter of knowing what to do with this particular problem. The bigger issue is your brother or sister in Christ and you will understand more as we continue this morning.

Thesis: This morning we are going to focus on knowledge. We will discover the knowledge that the people of Corinth believed they had, but then we will see how the knowledge of God takes a different form.

Imaginary Knowledge

True Knowledge

Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Prayer

Imaginary Knowledge

Illustration:

Do you remember back in your middle school years learning about Christopher Columbus and people during his time period?

If you think back to what you learned - you probably remember that people during that day and age believed the world to be square and not round. So, when people thought about sailing across the sea, they believed that one would fall off the side of the world if one were to sail across the sea.

Not until Christopher Columbus and other sailors like him did people come to know that this was not the case and that a person could actually go around the entire planet.

Today we laugh at such things - but before they had this knowledge this was a very serious issue.

To sail a boat across the sea was to lose a boat and everything and everyone in it.

It was no joking matter.

The newfound knowledge of the Corinthians - seems similar to this situation from a few hundred years ago.

The knowledge seems to change everything!

You’re no longer scared of losing boats off of the side of the world.

Instead you see the opportunity of a new world across that sea!

So - What did they know that made all the difference in their minds?

1 Corinthians 8:4-5 --- “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

Newfound Knowledge — Two Parts.

There is only one God

Remember - The Corinthians were Gentiles, not Jews

The Corinthians came from a pagan society in which there were idols and gods all over the place and people worshipped many all at the same time. Before knowing Jesus these people believed in the existence of many gods.

They prayed and worshipped to one god in order to bless their crops.

They prayed and worshipped to another when they wanted to find love.

They prayed and worshipped another when they were going to war.

So - These Corinthians were used to the idea of their being many gods.

The Jews - The Jewish Old Testament - Teaches something completely different!

Something Paul, as a Jewish scholar, would have taught these people right away - There is only one God!

Isaiah 44:6 --- “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts; I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.”

Deuteronomy 4:35 --- “To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him.”

This was new Knowledge for the Corinthians!

There is only one God - One creator - One King of the Universe - One in charge of all things.

Praying and worshipping means nothing unless it is pointed toward Him and Him alone!

Second Part of this Knowledge — There are no other gods

The main implication of the first point is this - if there is one God - that means there are no other gods out there!

Aphrodite - doesn’t really exist!

Osiris - doesn’t really exist!

Poseidon - doesn’t really exist!

Apollo - doesn’t really exist!

All of these wooden and stone gods that are all over the city and all over our homes - they don’t exist.

This kind of knowledge would have been transforming - wouldn’t it?

None of these idols are real beyond the image made out of wood or stone! You can throw them away and you don’t have to worry about any recourse - because they do not even exist anyways!

The worship and the prayers pointed towards these gods are pointless - because no one is listening. If someone is praying to one of these gods against me, do I need to worry? Of course not!

The meats, grains and drinks being offered to these gods are not effected by these gods - because they aren’t real!

This is where this knowledge really hits the road for the Corinthians!

They had been taught by Paul and others coming from Jerusalem as missionaries that there was only one God. Paul and other missionaries were teaching the Old Testament background of Jesus!

And they rightly see the connection! These foods cannot be tainted by these gods, because these gods do not even exist! How can they taint anything if they don’t even exist?

So - Enjoy it all you want! Don’t worry about these gods having an impact on your body as you eat the meat, drink or grain that has been offered to them.

They can’t do anything - because they do not exist!

Do you know what?

They were right! This is a right application of this knowledge. They were completely fine in buying and eating these meats!

Paul agrees with their knowledge - and even the application of that knowledge!

Verse 8 --- “But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.”

At first light — there seems to be no problem — the Corinthians are in the right!

But remember what Paul said at the very beginning of the chapter...

Knowledge puffs up - makes you arrogant

1 Corinthians 8:2 --- “If anyone supposes he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know”

Some take Paul’s words too far - they would say that Paul is saying that you can’t really know anything - and if you do claim to know something it’s just going to make you arrogant and puffed up.

People who think they know something are fooling themselves - appears to be what Paul is saying...

The Problem - Paul contradicts this idea in the rest of the book!

10 times in 1 Corinthians Paul uses the phrase - “do you not know”

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?”

“Do you not know that you will one day judge angels?”

When Paul makes these kind of statements he is basically saying that you can know something, you do know something and knowing that something should change the way you are living!

So Paul is not saying that it is impossible to know anything, nor is he saying that knowledge is something we should not seek for because it causes arrogance.

The Question then becomes this - What is Paul saying about knowledge? What is he correcting the Corinthians about? What is true knowledge? How do we know when we have it?

True Knowledge

The Problem isn’t the Knowledge - It’s their treatment of others in the application of that knowledge.

1 Corinthians 8:1 says it best --- “Knowledge makes arrogant"

The Problem arose in how the people of Corinth treated those who didn’t have this knowledge...

Notice - Paul once again quotes the Corinthians - “we know that we all have knowledge” - Apparently this was a saying in Corinth. In Effect — “We all know that there is only one God - so we should be able to eat as we please.”

Think about how you would think of and treat someone today who thinks the world is square.

You would laugh and perhaps even make jokes about all of our Olympians falling off the planet if they go to Japan.

You for sure wouldn’t let their lack of knowledge keep you from going on that cruise in the ocean.

I think this is similar to what is happening in Corinth over these meats offered to these false gods.

There is a puffing up of those who have this knowledge and a pushing down of those who do not yet have this kind of understanding. There is a demand to eat and enjoy these things because these idols are not real gods anyways.

If someone doesn’t know this - they need to learn it - that shouldn’t stop me from enjoying what I have every right to enjoy.

Knowledge ----- Puffing Up ----- Lovelessness ----- Destruction

How does this knowledge destroy someone?

1 Corinthians 8:10-11 --- “For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.”

Notice what Paul says the problem is here...

The brother is not offended, he is caused to stumble.

Many use these verses to claim that you shouldn’t do what you are doing because it offends another Christian, or another group of Christians and they disagree with what you are doing.

But that is not what Paul says here...

Paul says the problem is not to offend, but to make that person stumble.

It’s not that they are offended by what you are doing - it’s that what you are doing causes them to do it too and could cause them to reenter the life that they left because of Christ.

Example:

Often times people use the example of alcohol today when it comes to these verses. Scripture never condemns the use of any and all alcohol - but it does say not to become drunk. So, drinking alcohol is a matter of Christian freedom.

The problem in drinking alcohol is not that other Christians might disagree with you or might not think it’s right or might even be offended by you drinking alcohol.

The problem is when your drinking alcohol actually causes harm to another believer.

Think about an Alcoholic who comes to know Jesus

They come to know Jesus and God enables them to give up alcohol altogether. This person looks up to you as an older and more mature Christian and they strive to be like you as you strive to be like Christ.

What is the previous alcoholic going to do when they see that you have alcohol in your fridge or see you have a drink when you go out to dinner with them?

They are going to do what you are doing!

Only for them it might very well cause that addiction to come alive again and thus lead them down a road of drunkenness that they had previously given up.

In this way - your drunkenness didn’t offend them - it literally caused them to stumble and go back to the life that they had left to follow Jesus!

In Corinth this probably meant that the weaker brother was led back into idol worship!

This person had left these Temples behind and followed Jesus!

But because they see you eating the meat, eating at the Temples, and enjoying meals with friends at these places and buying foods that have been offered to these idols and false gods. They come to the conclusion that Jesus must just be another God to add to the list of gods.

I can just worship Jesus on Sundays.

And worship these other gods throughout the week.

After all - brother so in so, who has been a believer for a lot longer than I have is doing this!

So - by choosing to enjoy this freedom - you destroy the work that Christ has already done on that man’s life!

Jesus had very strict warnings for those who would do this...

Luke 17:1-2 --- “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

Notice - It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come

In other words - you are going to be tempted to go back to your previous life. You are going to be tempted to drink alcohol again, you are going to be tempted to worship those false gods again, you are going to be tempted to love money again.

But woe to those through whom these temptations come!

The Church should not be a source of temptation - it should be a source of building up!

1 Corinthians 8:11 --- “For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.”

So - How do we know when we have real knowledge in God’s eyes?

We know we have true knowledge when it is applied not just in light of what is true, but also in the light of who it would or even could affect or influence in a wrong direction!

Conclusion:

Again - I feel like I need to emphasize something I already said here...

This is not a passage of Scripture that you can use against those you disagree with. You can’t go around claiming to be the weaker brother because you are offended by the christian liberties others are enjoying. If it isn’t causing you to stumble and fall away from Jesus and back into this world - it’s simply just a disagreement.

The Church has had a problem with legalists for years - legalists push their opinions upon others by claiming to be offended because they are the weaker brother - all while they know it’s not really causing them to stumble, it’s just annoying them.

When it comes to trying to have this kind of knowledge - knowledge that thinks about brothers/sisters in Christ there are really three requirements that we need to strive after.

It Requires that we Know our Brothers/Sisters in Christ

How can you have the kind of knowledge that is concerned with how it affects your brother/sister in Christ if you don’t know your brother/sister in Christ well enough to know what would affect them?

How can you know having that bottle of alcohol in the fridge could cause them to stumble if you had no idea they had struggled with being an alcoholic before they knew Christ?

How could you know that going to this concert at the casino would make your brother/sister stumble unless you understood that they had a terrible problem with gambling before they knew Christ?

For that matter - how could I know that having a deck of playing cards would also make them stumble?

How could you know that the rock or country station you have on in your garage would make your brother/sister stumble unless you understood that in their past this kind of music was tied to the party scene they were once a part of?

None of these things are wrong in any and every situation for us - but if we know the struggles and previous life temptations of our brothers and sisters in Christ - we can know that it would cause them to stumble, which is reason enough to abstain.

It Requires that we love our Brothers/Sisters in Christ more than we love our Freedom

As Americans we sometimes really get caught up in what we have the right or freedom to do, but we can’t transfer that same way of thinking into our lives as Christians.

We can’t love our rights and freedoms more than we love one another!

Jesus is the ultimate example of how this is done!

He set aside His throne - in order that He might die for us! He had every right to demand justice and condemn sin - yet He went to the cross to pay for our sins!

He loved us so much - that He laid down His rights as God!

How much more should we be willing to lay our rights down on behalf of a brother or sister in Christ so that the can walk with Jesus more closely and follow Him?

We must love one another more than we love our freedom.

It is not a matter of fixing our weaker brother/sister in Christ - it’s a matter of loving them!

Romans 14:1-3

“Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.”

We are not to judge their weakness and try to fix it - we are to respect their conscience and the way they have chosen to serve the Lord and obey Him.

It’s not a matter of convincing a prior alcoholic that it’s okay to have a drink from time to time.

It’s a matter of respecting their desire to follow Jesus and leave that life behind!

It’s a matter of choosing to see that their conscience is probably right in telling them not to do this!

Main Point this morning --- If knowledge is not connected to love — It’s not knowledge at all!