[0:00] For our sermon text tonight, turn to 1 Corinthians 10.
[0:11] ! And we'll read through chapter 11, verse 1. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful.
[0:34] All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
[0:48] For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
[1:02] But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it. For the sake of the one who has informed you and the sake of conscience.
[1:14] I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
[1:28] So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God.
[1:41] Just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
[1:53] Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. I don't remember much from high school English, particularly Shakespeare.
[2:04] And that's probably a good thing. But there's one line that I do remember from Shakespeare. To be or not to be. That is the question. Well, another line that should be all the more familiar to us at this point, studying through 1 Corinthians is, to eat or not to eat.
[2:23] That is the question. Specifically meat. Paul has been giving us a lengthy treatise on eating meat. Meat that has been offered to idols.
[2:35] And Paul has given us here this lengthy response. Three chapters devoted to answering this question. To eat or not to eat. Now, it would be easy to perhaps write off this question at the outset of chapter 8.
[2:51] You read, Now concerning food offered to idols. And you think, Nope. Not for me. Not applicable. Not relevant. 21st century America.
[3:02] Very different from 1st century Corinth. So we think, I'll skip this. But without even reading a word that Paul has written here, the sheer length of his answer should give us pause.
[3:17] Wow. Paul has a lot to say concerning food offered to idols. Three chapters. Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to turn the page. And of course we shouldn't.
[3:28] This is God's word. And all of God's word given to us, breathed out by God. Profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training, in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
[3:42] So yes, it's true that this is not as directly applicable to us, perhaps, as other areas of God's word, even other areas of this letter. But it is still God's word.
[3:54] And we need the truth of God's word. All of it. And as I hope that we've seen, as we've studied through these three chapters, it's jam-packed with truth for us.
[4:05] That is direct. That is applicable. Yes, the question of eating meat offered to idols may not relate to us as directly as other things in God's word.
[4:17] but thinking through Christian liberty, thinking through loving our brothers and sisters and sacrificing for their good, thinking through the reality of the spiritual realm and demonic activity in our world today, thinking through the need for self-control and discipline and that single-minded focus in living out the Christian life, like a runner running the race to obtain the prize.
[4:43] We've hit on all of that in Paul's answer to the question, should we eat this meat? And to top it all off, one last piece of evidence in defense of the importance of this section in this letter.
[4:56] Not just the length and not just the wonderful needed themes covered in it, but the cherry on top, the kicker for me, one of the most beloved, well-known, often quoted Bible verses is found in this section.
[5:12] We just heard it read. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. That verse, found here, as Paul addresses, can we eat this meat?
[5:27] It's a wonderful section of Scripture. It's a needed section of Scripture found here in 1 Corinthians 8-10, and we're finishing it tonight. It almost feels like we're finishing a sermon series.
[5:39] We've been in this section so long. All good things must come to an end, even answers to questions about meat. So our passage this evening, it's something of a summary.
[5:52] It's Paul's concluding thoughts on the matter. And what he does is he gives us three considerations, three key considerations when faced with a matter of Christian liberty.
[6:06] Some of this is review, but it's good review because when you boil it all down, what we have in these verses is the guiding framework that we should always bring to the table.
[6:18] So whenever we have an opportunity to exercise Christian liberty, we must approach it with these three key considerations in mind. So this is very practical.
[6:30] This impacts our day-to-day lives. There's all kinds of situations that arise in life in which our conscience and the conscience of others comes into play.
[6:41] How are we to think through and to respond in those situations? This passage helps us immensely. We can think of it as a checklist of sorts.
[6:53] We should be able to check off each of these considerations before we exercise Christian liberty. So these considerations help us to not act rashly.
[7:05] So the first key consideration is this, the good of your neighbor. The good of your neighbor. And we see this in verses 23 to 30.
[7:17] Let me read those once more. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
[7:32] Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
[7:49] But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience. I do not mean your conscience, but his.
[8:00] For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So Paul returns here to a pithy saying of the Corinthians.
[8:17] All things are lawful. They liked to say it. Paul liked to correct them. He made a point of doing it in chapter 6, and here he is doing it again.
[8:28] You say all things are lawful, but as we saw in chapter 6, that's simply not always true. Sexual immorality is not lawful. But even the things that are lawful, when we're thinking of things that relate to Christian liberty, even if they are lawful, that doesn't mean that we just have the green light.
[8:49] The Corinthians were thinking when it comes to Christian liberty, we can do whatever we want, and that's that. End of the debate. And Paul is saying, hold on. Not so fast.
[9:01] When it comes to Christian liberty, yes, all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. Not all things build up. You may be able to do something, sure, but you need to think about more than just yourself.
[9:17] So that's what Paul says in verse 24. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. I may be able to do something because it's lawful, but I must think of others.
[9:30] Now notice that word Paul uses. Some translations say neighbor. Some translations say simply other. All throughout this section, Paul's primary focus has been on our relationship to brothers and sisters in Christ.
[9:44] But here, he broadens it. He speaks now of our neighbor, of others. And I think it'll become clear as we consider the host of the meal in Paul's example, he's not just talking now about believers.
[9:58] He's talking about unbelievers also. To our neighbor. Well, Jesus makes clear in the parable of the Good Samaritan. That's everyone. So we are to be concerned for the good of all.
[10:09] I may be able to do something without disobeying God. Good. But am I helping others? Am I building up others? Or am I putting a stumbling block before my brothers and sisters in Christ?
[10:24] Am I putting a hindrance to coming to Christ for an unbeliever? That's important too. I can't just take into account whether something is morally right or wrong.
[10:35] I must take into account others. Paul then gives this example. And he gives this example to help us understand in a very practical way, well, what then does this look like?
[10:48] What does it look like to seek the good of our neighbor? Here's the example, beginning in verse 25. He speaks now of meat that's been purchased in the market.
[10:58] You're free to eat that, Paul says to the Corinthians. You can eat that meat. Now we just saw previously, you're not free to eat that meat if it means that you're participating in an idol worship service.
[11:11] No meat if you're eating it as part of that temple pagan worship. But if you bought it in the marketplace, go for it. It's from God. It's a part of his creation.
[11:23] Paul quotes from Psalm 24, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. So the Corinthians have their own sayings. Some of them are true, like an idol has no real existence.
[11:36] Well, now Paul shares his own saying, and it's a saying straight from God's word, which is a far better saying, a far more reliable saying. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
[11:47] So eat that meat that's set before you. It's part of God's world. It belongs to God. It's from God, and he's given it to us to enjoy. So there's no need to ask a laundry list of questions to determine its origins.
[12:03] Eat it with joy. Eat it with thankfulness. There's much freedom here. In fact, there's so much freedom, you can even eat that meat if it's set before you at a meal in an unbeliever's home.
[12:17] That might be a bit surprising to hear, because there is a very strong possibility that meat in this unbeliever's home was previously offered to idols in some capacity.
[12:29] But again, no need to run through a checklist of questions here. No need to become a defense attorney and cross-examine your host. Just eat it, Christian. There's lots of freedom here that Paul is giving.
[12:42] As long as we're not participating with demons in idol worship, there's lots of contexts where you can eat meat that was probably involved in the sacrifices of idol worship. Don't sit down at a table in the temple as they're holding a pagan feast, but you can sit down at the table of a pagan in his home and eat, unless someone speaks up.
[13:08] And that person, whether it's the unbelieving host or anyone else, maybe a brother or sister in Christ, whoever it may be, they speak up and they reveal the meat's origins.
[13:19] They say, this has been offered in sacrifice. Now, if it's a believer, a Christian, they might have kind of sidled up next to you and said, this meat was offered in sacrifice.
[13:31] But if it's the unbelieving host, maybe they said it more like, this meat has been offered in sacrifice. A little bit different, and yet the same response.
[13:41] You see, it's not because you necessarily have new information here. Your response to the situation has not changed because you suddenly have learned this meat was offered in sacrifice.
[13:56] The reason that our response then changes is because this new information has been made public so that everyone else knows that you know it's been offered in sacrifice.
[14:07] So it's not the information itself. You could have known that meat was offered in sacrifice to idols previously, but no one else knew that you knew and you could have still eaten the meat.
[14:18] That's what chapter 8 was all about. Idols are nothing, so you can eat. So it's not the information that gives you pause in this example. It's the public nature of that information. They know, you know.
[14:31] Others also now know, whether fellow believers around the table or unbelievers like your very host. And Paul is saying, show concern for them.
[14:42] Now we saw in chapter 8, as it relates to brothers in Christ with weak consciences, the solution in chapter 8, the solution here in chapter 10, they're the same.
[14:55] You shouldn't take your brother aside and try to correct his wrong thinking in that moment. You shouldn't rebuke him and say, you silly guy, you just eat the meat. That's not at all what Paul says to do here.
[15:08] And that's not at all what Paul said to do in chapter 8. Not once has Paul given the take your brother aside and fix him solution. What has Paul's solution always been as it relates to Christian liberty here?
[15:22] It hasn't been, get your brother to change. The answer has always been, in this moment, you change. Change what you are going to do. You intended to eat that meat? Well, now, don't.
[15:35] Verse 28 says it. Then do not eat for the sake of the one who informs you and for the sake of conscience. You had just sunk your fork into that tender steak.
[15:48] You were so eager to take that first bite. You could taste it already. And then just at that moment, the origin story of the steak is revealed.
[15:59] So close to enjoying it. Now you've been interrupted. And now you need to think about your brother or your sister who's sitting at that table with you.
[16:10] How tempting is it, though, when we're faced with any kind of Christian liberty situation to quickly brush aside our brother or our sister's possible objection?
[16:21] How often do we just not care in the name of doing what we want to do when we know that what we want to do isn't wrong? It's their problem. It's not mine.
[16:32] I've thought through this extensively. I've worked through the situation. I've come to what I think is a wise, right conclusion. They haven't worked through it like I have.
[16:45] They need to do that. That's tempting, isn't it? I'm ashamed to say that far too easily I find myself in life thinking in that kind of puffed up way.
[16:57] Well, I've come to a conclusion, but they haven't. So they need to fix themselves. But what does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 8.1? This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
[17:11] And so Paul says in chapter 10, do not eat it. He doesn't say inform your brother or sister. He doesn't say belittle or tear down your brother or sister, scoff at their conscience and show that yours is superior.
[17:26] All of that would be what? Seeking our own good. Instead, Paul says, seek the good of your neighbor. And how much more when it's our brother or our sister in Christ?
[17:39] We love them, right? How can we say that we love our brother if we're totally fine with him stumbling because of us, destroyed even, Paul said back in chapter 8.
[17:53] There in chapter 8, he said, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. And then he also said, by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.
[18:10] So you see, this isn't just about meat. This is about holiness. This is about the soul of your brother. What kind of love wounds a sibling in Christ and doesn't even bat an eye?
[18:21] So if we love our brother, we will live like it. And that might mean putting the fork down just as we're about to take that first bite. What might not matter much to us or what we might have worked through and come to one conclusion might matter immensely or your brother may have come to a different conclusion.
[18:41] So God's word commands us to consider them, to be concerned for him. But it's not just for the believer that we're to have concern for. It's also the unbeliever.
[18:52] For the first time in this section, Paul actually wants us to consider the conscience of an unbeliever, which that is perhaps a strange thought. Because our conscience, it's that God-given faculty for distinguishing between right and wrong.
[19:08] And it's not perfect, even for a believer. That's how we get situations like this in 1 Corinthians 8-10. Our consciences aren't always working totally right.
[19:20] We haven't all arrived at the exact conclusion. So think then about an unbeliever. Their consciences obviously aren't working perfectly.
[19:31] Their conscience is faulty in different ways than a weak brother, perhaps. Maybe in opposite ways from a weak brother. If a weak brother concludes that something is sinful when it's not, an unbeliever is far more likely to conclude that something is not sinful when it is.
[19:50] So can you see how this matters when it comes to Christian liberty? Perhaps eating that meat offered to idols is okay, but idol worship isn't. And there's something of a very fine line here between the two.
[20:03] We saw that in the passage just preceding this one. You can't partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. So if an unbeliever draws attention to that meal and says very happily that this has been offered in sacrifice, well that's a problem because now he knows that you know.
[20:21] And if you shrug your shoulders and you dig in, what might that unbeliever conclude? Not just that it's fine to eat meat, but that it's fine to worship idols to whom that meat was offered.
[20:33] He might think to himself, well that Colin, he's a Christian and he's eating that sacrificial meat. Maybe Christianity is more compatible than I thought with my worship of my gods.
[20:47] Even eating meat at a dinner party can be an opportunity to show a watching world that we've been set apart, that we are now distinct, in the world but not of the world.
[21:00] simply abstaining from those things that the world associates with its own pagan ways is a clear way to demonstrate our faith. Nothing wrong with the meat, but that meat is associated with idolatry, well that's another thing.
[21:15] So we must act with wisdom, we must act with discernment and be concerned for the sake of others. Now I do want to emphasize that call to wisdom and discernment because we cannot be living our lives constantly thinking how will this or that be perceived.
[21:36] That's unsustainable if taken to an extreme like all extremes can be. We can't be constantly thinking of others in this way, trying to mind read everyone we interact with so that we don't do something that could be misunderstood and thereby a stumbling block put up.
[21:53] That's impossible. That's tiring just to think about. We can't be living to make sure that at every turn stumbling blocks are avoided by others. But we also shouldn't ignore possible stumbling blocks when they're readily apparent to us.
[22:11] Paul gives us a good example. It's readily apparent. This could be misconstrued. If I eat this meat, this could be misunderstood in the worst of ways.
[22:21] That person sitting across from me might draw some very wrong conclusions about me. He might draw some very wrong conclusions about my God. So I don't need to eat this meat.
[22:33] It doesn't matter that much to me if it's going to put up a stumbling block, an unnecessary obstacle. So when we recognize these kinds of situations, we do well to seek the good of our neighbor.
[22:47] Now for the unbeliever, that might mean the situation is rather awkward. They might still misunderstand us if we abstain from eating the meat, but they'll misunderstand us in the right way, in something of almost a good way.
[23:04] They might think that we're weird. They might think that we're odd. But so what? If that means that our testimony points them to the one true God, I'm all for this.
[23:17] I'm all for them scratching their head and saying, why aren't you eating that meat? Let them misunderstand in that way. They don't misunderstand why we won't eat the meat, or they do misunderstand that, but something they now understand is that Christianity is not compatible with their false religion.
[23:36] I would rather have that kind of misunderstanding that points them to Christ, that leads to the truth of the gospel, than have a misunderstanding that leads them away from the truth of the gospel, that makes them think, hmm, maybe his faith is compatible with my religion.
[23:51] So we should be concerned about others. Whether believer or unbeliever, we should be concerned about their conscience. And we must be clear on that. It's their conscience that we're talking about.
[24:05] We're not eating for the sake of the one who informed us and for the sake of conscience, Paul says in verse 28. And he means for the sake of the conscience of the one who informed you.
[24:18] It's your brother's conscience that you're taking into consideration. It's the unbeliever's conscience. It's his, but it's not yours. Your conscience is clear. You have no problem eating the meat.
[24:29] You were so excited to eat that meat, whether it was offered to idols or not, before the news broke out. This is about being willing to change our behavior for the sake of another.
[24:40] This is not about us and our conscience suddenly being bound by someone else. This is not about us changing our convictions out of concern for our brother or an unbeliever.
[24:52] That would be taking what Paul says here too far. So Paul clarifies what he's talking about. Paul clarifies who he's talking about. And we see that clarification in verse 29.
[25:04] I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience?
[25:15] So we abstain from exercising our liberty or we abstain from exercising our rights for the sake of other people's consciences. Because ours is clear.
[25:26] There is no reason for us to abstain for the sake of our conscience. That's why we're about to eat the meat at that dinner table. We have a clear conscience. And someone else's conscience shouldn't determine our own liberty.
[25:40] Our conscience shouldn't be bound by another person anymore than we should be binding someone else's. So Paul is saying I have a clear conscience. I had it before I learned of the meat's origins.
[25:51] I had it after I learned of the meat's origins. Nothing has changed for me with this revelation of information. This meat was offered in sacrifice? Okay. That's fine.
[26:02] Idols are nothing as the Corinthians say. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof as Psalm 24 says. So I'm going to eat this meat and I'm going to eat it with thankfulness, Paul says.
[26:15] But not at the expense of others. I'll lay down this right if it means that good will come to my neighbor. That's the first consideration that we must take into account as we exercise our Christian liberty.
[26:30] Concern for our neighbor. Now we've devoted a good amount of time to our unpacking of those verses, the bulk of our passage, but we have two more considerations to look at more briefly.
[26:42] But they're just as important as we'll see. Consideration number two. The glory of God. Just verse 31. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
[26:58] So here's this wonderfully well-known verse with the meaning being abundantly clear. We're to live our lives to the glory of God. That is clear. Make His glory to be your life's greatest priority.
[27:12] And whatever you do, that should be your aim. Now out of context, that phrase, whether you eat or drink, might sound a little strange. Why did Paul say such particular words?
[27:25] Why didn't he say something more general? Which he does in Colossians chapter 3. In Colossians chapter 3, verse 17, Paul gives a somewhat parallel verse.
[27:38] And there he speaks of doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus. And he says, in word and deed. That encompasses more than eating and drinking.
[27:49] You could see that phrase fitting pretty well here in 1 Corinthians. So whether in word or deed, in whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. But that's not what Paul says.
[28:01] He says, whether you eat or drink. But now, it should make sense to us if at one time it was confusing. After working our way through 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10, don't we see that Paul has spent a lot of time talking about eating, eating meat, drinking, drinking the cup of the Lord rather than the cup of demons, eating or drinking.
[28:28] Paul is helping us to keep perspective, especially when it comes to Christian liberty. As we work through the nuances of Christian liberty in life, as we consider the wisdom needed in that, we can't forget we do all things to the glory of God.
[28:46] That's our top priority. That's our greatest ambition. Even as we enjoy Christian liberty, whether we eat, if we do, and enjoy that Christian liberty, even as we enjoy it, even as we exercise it in situations where limits aren't needed, we must still be thinking, I want to give glory to God in this.
[29:09] So again, Christian liberty is not ultimately about me. It's not ultimately about what I can do, about what I can enjoy, about what rights I have, even in what we can do, even in what we can enjoy, even in the rights that we may have.
[29:28] We must always be seeing our Christian liberty through the lens of giving glory to God. In verse 30, Paul affirms that we have freedom to enjoy many things in Christ.
[29:42] And what's Paul's attitude toward those many things? He has a heart of thanksgiving. That meat that he's eating, when he is able to eat it, without any thought of a brother or sister nearby, all that meat that he's eating, he gives thanks to God for.
[30:00] And in doing that, Paul honors God. Even in his exercise of his Christian liberty, Paul does all for the glory of God. And so should we. So when we think about our limits to our liberties, when we limit those liberties out of love, we do that to the glory of God.
[30:19] That when we enjoy our liberties without any limits, we do that to the glory of God as well. So we see that Paul is not being a grouch.
[30:30] He's not just pouring cold water on Christian liberty and saying, you can't enjoy that. Of course we can. Paul did. And what did he do when he enjoyed it?
[30:42] He gave glory to God. And we should too. Now let's consider the third and the final consideration. The example of Christ. The example of Christ.
[30:52] Beginning in verse 32. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they may be saved.
[31:08] Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. So Paul puts himself forward to us as an example. He's done this frequently in his letter.
[31:21] He's done this especially in this section of the letter. And what's the example that Paul sets before us? Selflessness. An example of love and concern and compassion for others.
[31:37] This eager willingness to lay down his rights and his liberties if it means that good comes to others. That's just what we've already seen this evening. Paul said in verse 24, let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbor.
[31:54] Paul doesn't just tell us to do that. Paul models that for us. He lived his life seeking the good of his neighbor. He intentionally, purposefully tried to avoid put up stumbling blocks.
[32:08] Or as he says in verse 32, he avoided offending. Or your translation might simply say stumbling. Paul didn't want to say or to do anything that would get in the way of the gospel.
[32:23] Living life seeking his own advantage. That would get in the way of the gospel. So when Paul says that he tries to please everyone, Paul is not saying that he is a people pleaser.
[32:35] He's not saying that he tries to be this eloquent speaker who tickles people's ears. Paul has already strongly condemned that kind of behavior already in this letter.
[32:46] When he says that he tries to please everyone, he's talking again like he did in chapter 9 about being adaptable. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a slave to all.
[32:57] That's what Paul said in chapter 9. It's what he's getting at here in chapter 10. I'm here to please, meaning I'm here to serve, to seek, not my own advantage, but the advantage of many.
[33:09] And what's the advantage of many that Paul sought? Or you could ask, what's the good of his neighbor that Paul sought? That they might be saved.
[33:21] Just as he said back in chapter 9, I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings.
[33:35] That's Paul's aim. That's how Paul lived his life as a Christian. This devotion, this zeal, this great pursuit to win the lost and to strengthen the faith of those who have been found.
[33:50] So Paul says, be imitators of me. Make this your great pursuit as well. It's interesting that Paul is not shy about calling others to imitate him.
[34:03] He's not shy about telling people to look at his life, to watch his life, and to model their lives after him. And yet he's not being arrogant. He's being bold, but he's not being arrogant because who's the ultimate example that he points to?
[34:20] Who is the chief model for us? It's not Paul. Paul doesn't end with himself. He points us to Christ. He says, follow me as I follow Christ.
[34:32] Paul didn't seek his own advantage in life. And you know, that wasn't just his own kind of personal purpose that he dreamed up. He didn't think one day, you know, here's an idea. This might be a good way to live.
[34:44] I'll give it a try. I'll seek not my own advantage in life. That's not how Paul's life purpose developed. He looked to his Savior and he modeled his life after him.
[34:56] Christ didn't seek his own advantage, did he? Christ didn't seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Think about all of the neighbors that Christ helped.
[35:10] Think of all of those that he showed compassion to that gave him nothing in return. The Gentile man with the demon, the demon-possessed man who lived among the tombs night and day, crying out, cutting himself with stones, tormenting himself and others, but Jesus sought that man's good.
[35:33] Blind Bartimaeus, sitting on the side of the road, crying out for mercy. Others rebuked him, told him to be quiet, but Jesus sought that man's good.
[35:45] The children that everyone else thought were a nuisance, an annoyance, Jesus welcomed them to himself. He took them in his arms and he blessed them. Jesus sought their good.
[35:57] Over and over again, in the gospel accounts, Jesus sought the good of his neighbors and he did that all the way to the cross. You want an example of Jesus seeking the advantage of others?
[36:12] Consider the cross that Jesus hung on. It would have certainly been to Jesus' advantage to come down from the cross, to do as he said he could do in the Garden of Gethsemane, to call down twelve legions of angels, to come to his defense.
[36:29] Kids, do you know how many angels that is? Twelve legions? That's 72,000 angels. That is more people than live in Bremen by a lot. That's more people than live in Bremen, in Plymouth, in Napanee, and in Mishawaka combined.
[36:48] Basically, go anywhere around here and all of the people that you see, you could count and say, that's how many angels there were that could have come to Christ's defense and many more if he wanted them.
[37:00] And yet, Jesus did not call them down. That would have been seeking his own good. That would have been to his own advantage. But that's not what he did because he sought the advantage of others.
[37:10] He sought the good of his neighbors. Look no further than the neighbor who hung on the cross just next to Jesus, that thief condemned to die for his crimes and justly so.
[37:23] He looked in faith to Jesus and he said, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus replied to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
[37:35] That's the heart of our Savior. That's the selfless love of our Savior that's been shown to us. And now by God's grace, we seek the good of others just as he did even for us.
[37:48] We now live to imitate him and to glorify him. Let's pray together. Father God, we do look forward with eager and joyful hearts to the day when you will rule and reign in the new creation, when you will dwell with us and we will enjoy you for all of eternity.
[38:09] And we will sing out and we will cry out all glory be to Christ in that day. So help us even as we go into this week that that would still yet be our anthem. All glory be to Christ.
[38:20] May we honor you and how we live our lives until that great day that you would receive all of the glory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Galatians 5, 13-14 Amen.
[38:35] We're dismissed.