Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Today we continue our journey through 1 Corinthians.

That journey leads us to the second high point of chapter 10.

If you recall, I mentioned last week that there are two high points of this chapter.

The first was 1 Corinthians 10:13

It is in this verse the Holy Spirit helps us understand the temptations we face and how God views them.

With God’s help, we can overcome anything that stands in our path.

However, the key is that we do it His way and not ours.

The second high point comes in our text today.

Look in your Bibles and read with 1 Corinthians 10:29-33

Last week, the Holy Spirit identified five assessments we can use to determine if we should or should not do certain activities associated with the world.

At the heart of those fives assessments was this.

God created us with a brain by which we can think and do.

The brain provides cognitive reasoning and understanding that supersedes all other animals here on earth.

We often say we have a mind to do this or that.

In fact, our minds which is associated with our brains is the means by which we make immediate decisions.

Right now, some of you have the mind to listen to me and others have already turned to thinking of what they are going to have for lunch when I am done.

The mind is a wonderful thing.

The ability to reason, think, and then act is incredible.

In our text last week as well as today, we have the word “conscience.”

In our text, it is used five times.

Doing a closer study of the word “conscience,” we find this.

In the Greek, it means “knowing with.”

Essentially, it is used to indicate co-knowledge.

Conscience is the witness within one’s self which drives us to act.

Another implication is this.

Conscience is the faculty by which we, as believers, apprehend the will of God allowing it to govern our lives.

Here is what how I have come to understand it from study of Scripture.

Before salvation, men and women are spiritually dead.

The moment a person places their complete faith in all that God has already done through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (His death, burial, and resurrection for our salvation), God resurrects them spiritually making them alive unto Him.

In that same moment, He places His Spirit within them.

As a result, God’s Spirit in conjunction with His Word utilizes our conscience as a spiritual indicator.

If we there is sin our lives, we feel guilt.

That is warning sign that something is wrong in our relationship with God.

We must not ignore it.

However, when we are living in harmony with Him through obedience to His Word, our conscience is at ease.

Last week’s text taught us that our “conscience” is a major player in our decision to do things associated with the world.

There were two key verses.

In verse 25, we are encouraged to eat anything that would not violate our own conscience.

In other words, if you want to eat the pagan sacrificed meat sold in the meat market, eat it.

It is just meat.

However, in verse 28, if you are with another believer who holds a strong conviction about eating such meat, then don’t eat it.

Here then comes another argument which is presented in verse 29 of today’s text.

I do not eat the meat for my conscience sake, rather, I do it for my brother’s.

So if that is case, why then should I allow another person’s conscience by the judge of what I am eating, drinking, or whatever I do?

It is a great question.

However, before we get to the answer, let’s look at the next verse.

This question is a little more challenging.

Note the phrase “if I by GRACE be a partaker.”

Essentially, the question is argued on the point of grace.

This is not a direct reference to the God’s grace.

Grace defined on a very literal level focuses on two things.

It indicate favor on the part of the one giving and on the thankfulness of the one receiving.

Remember now the context here.

Going back to verse 27 and 28, we are sitting with another believer who has a strong conviction about eating pagan sacrificed meat.

Both of us are partakers of God’s grace.

God is the One Who provides all things including our salvation.

The Holy Spirit reinforced this twice by proclaiming “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof” in verses 26 and 28.

Thus, essence of the question in verse 30 is really a complaint.

If I have that liberty to enjoy the many bountiful blessings (meat, drink, etc) of God, when then should some one speak evil of me and that which I give thanks?

In other words, why should I give consideration to someone else (believer or nonbeliever) in anything that I so choose to do as long as it doesn’t violate my own conscience?

That is the real heart of the matter.

You can really boil it all down to this.

A strong believer should carefully weigh what they do in regard to a weaker brother or sister.

At the same time, the strong believer must not let the opinion of others restrict them from doing what they know is right before the Lord.

In the end, each of us have a responsibility before the Lord to please Him.

When it comes time to stand for the things of the Lord, we must stand with confidence regardless of any person’s opinions - strong or weak, believer or unbeliever.

That is the essence of the coming answer from the Holy Spirit.

Here comes the Holy Spirit’s answer.

He begins with our number one objective in life as a believer.

Our Objective - Glorifying God!

Here is the second high point of this chapter.

Everything in our life, as believers, must be done with God’s glory as our aim.

The Holy Spirit is very specific here.

If you eat, drink, or whatsoever you do, do all...

I am not sure how you can get around this verse in anyway.

It is quite explicit in its instructions.

Anything we put into our body as well as any action we take with our body must about God’s glory.

It not about ours.

Our desires, our pleasures, and our interests must be put aside and His glory must be preeminent.

In the end, all issues regarding what we do in light of believers and nonbelievers boils down to this question, “What would Jesus do?”

There is no person who ever lived on earth that completely glorified God in all that He did or said than the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is our ultimate example.

This we see clearly in Christ’s great prayer in John 17.

Our main responsibility is to follow His example.

Going back to Matthew 5:16 we find the hope of our objective.

We are to live as reflective lights of the Light of the Word who is Jesus.

Doing good works (aka obeying Christ’s commands) is the means by which others see His light through us.

As we do, we “glorify” God the Father.

All of which leads us to the next point of our text.

Our Hope - Rescuing Souls!

Why should we be concerned about our testimony before others?

What is the overall hope of becoming all things to all people?

That is the aim.

We do it so that folks might be saved.

I will come back to that in just a moment.

However, for now, go back to verse 32.

We are instructed to-

Here we find the word “offence.”

In its original sense, it means “not causing to stumble.”