1Corinthians 8:1-3
How Can You Know What the Bible Doesn’t Say
We are in a section that starts here but will continue all the way to chapter
through chapter 10. It concerns eating meats that have been offered to idols,
or, in a word, idolatry.
Some Christians at Corinth were eating meat that had been offered to false gods.
Before you write this situation off one way or the other, we need to understand
both sides.
1. On the one side were those who were eating this meat. They had their
reasons. They would say:
a. It would be difficult to know which meat had been offered to idols.
Since idols can’t eat the meat offered to it, most of it was taken to
the town market and sold for money to the public. Unless you knew
where the meat came from, you were just at the market buying groceries.
b. Since this meat didn’t cost the idol priest anything and since it was
going to ruin if not sold, it was probably sold cheaper than what the
farmer sold his meat. Times are always tough and money is always
scare. If a woman could find a better deal to feed her family,
shouldn’t she take it?
c. And their biggest argument is, "The idol is nothing anyway! Who cares
if lost people gave it to an idol that is real?"
2. On the other side are those who say you shouldn’t eat this meat. They also
had their reasons. They would say:
a. God’s money was going to support idolatry. The whole point in the idol
temple selling the meat is to convert unusable meat into useable cash.
b. We have a testimony to guard. What if someone sees you supporting the
work of idolatry?
c. Spiritually, this meat has been given to the devil. This is the original
deviled ham! A person eating this meat is exposing himself to Satanic
power.
There is so much in this text that we need to consider. (There must be a lot
here. It took Paul three chapters to discuss it all and then he talks about it
more in the Book of Romans.)
Consider the following:
I. The issue for us is not meats offered to idols.
A. The issue for us is, "How can you know what the Bible doesn’t say?"
1. This was a contemporary issue and, until Paul wrote this epistle,
there was no Scripture dealing with it.
2. So, how can you know what to do when the Bible doesn’t discuss it?
B. While contemporary issues may change, the situation is going to stay
the same.
1. There will always be something of importance that needs to be
determined but is not directly mentioned in the Bible.
2. Get this - Even if the Bible doesn’t give you the direct answer
to your question, it will give you the principals needed to
answer the question.
II. The biggest problem in resolving a controversial issue is not finding the
resolution. It is having the right spirit to accept the resolution.
A. Any spiritual leader worth his salt will face the situation many
times.
1. Dealing with a difficult problem is not all that hard. Dealing
with difficult people is.
2. The Bible has given us a hard and fast rule that will resolve all
difficult situations.
a. This rule does not always need to be applied because every
problem is not always a bad one.
b. However, when you can’t deduce whether a thing is good or bad,
you always follow this rule.
1Cor 6:7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law
one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer
yourselves to be defrauded?
3. The hard and steadfast rule is that if you don’t know what you
should do, take the loss, make the sacrifice, deprive yourself
of the pleasure, do without.
4. Often I have heard people say, "Show me in the Bible that this
is wrong and I won't do it."
5. What we should be saying is, "Show me in the Bible this is right
before I do it."
6. Again, this rule doesn’t always have to be used.
7. If we have the right kind of spirit, we can usually determine
whether a thing is right or wrong.
B. \\#1Cor 10:11-14\\ What is the right kind of spirit?
1. \\#10:11\\ Be teachable.
1Cor 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
a. The word ADMONITION means for our edification, our education.
b. Paul is saying that the things which happened to the Old
Testament saints (and now the New Testament saints) are
recorded so that we might benefit.
c. This is why we preach so much from the historical accounts of
Scripture.
(1) There may not be Bible doctrine per se being taught there.
(2) But we can learn from the examples given.
(3) This is what makes the whole Bible important.
(4) Truths and principals that given there that are both
universal and timeless.
d. However, to benefit from them, we must be TEACHABLE.
(1) One of the things that makes working with teenagers
difficult is that they often become UNteachable.
(2) As a pastor, I will tell you teenagers aren’t the only
ones who think they know so much that they can’t be
taught anything else.
(3) WE adults (and I include myself in that number) are just
as bad.
2. \\#1Cor 10:12\\ Be humble.
2Cor 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
a. The problem with a little bit of knowledge is that it makes
a person cocky (proud).
b. I need to say something, but it won’t sound right if you don’t
listen carefully.
c. The older I get, the less sure I am about what I know.
(1) Immediately, I need to say that I am no less certain of
the Bible. It is inerrant, complete, and absolutely
trustworthy.
(2) What I become less certain of is how much I understand
about the Bible. (I know that is a real confidence
builder in the pastor….)
(3) The reason is the more I study the Bible, the more I see
God does what exactly He says, but He often does it in
a way that we would never expect.
(4) I don’t have the time to elaborate but when you get to
heaven, ask some of those people if they weren’t
surprised.
(a) Ask Noah.
(b) Ask the judges.
(c) Ask the prophets.
(d) Ask the disciples.
(e) Ask the early church fathers.
d. The more I study the Old Testament, the more I can understand
what happened to the scribes and Pharisees.
(1) They had a little bit of knowledge and got cocky.
(2) Jesus tried to get them to open up to the possibilities
of an Almighty God, but they would not.
Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life:
and they are they which testify of me.
e. Stay humble.
3. \\#10:12\\ Be careful "lest he fall"
a God is real and the principals found in His Word work, but
when you misinterpret those principals you leave yourself
wide open to the devil!
b. That old saying, "What you don’t know can’t hurt you" is a
lie!
c. Being ignorant or even worse, being wrong, can destroy you.
It can cause a cascade effect of destruction.
(1) Ignorance leaves us open to lust (wanting things that
are not right for us to have.)
(2) Lust leaves us open to temptation (the thought of
taking things that are not right for us to have).
(3) Temptation leaves us open to sin (actually taking the
the things that are not right for us to have).
(4) Sin leaves us open to death and judgment (being held
accountable before God and others for doing wrong.)
d. Here are some clues that you have missed something important
in the Word of God.
(1) You have unconquerable temptations.
(2) You have no Scripture for what you do.
(3) What you do never works.
4. \\#1Cor 10:13\\ Trust God
1Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it.
a. This is a great anchor verse.
(1) A verse that will help you at all times and in all
situations.
(2) However, it is not just the truth that you find in the
verse that makes it such a great anchor for us.
(3) It is also the point Paul was making when he gave us
the verse.
b. The point Paul is making is that YOU CAN TRUST GOD.
(1) The reason first most people stiffen up when dealing with
controversial issues is because they are afraid some-
body is going to take something away from them that
they really want.
(2) People are screaming out, "Don’t take away my leisure,
my hobbies, my pleasures, my entertainment, my free
time, my fun, my, my, my….)
(3) In dealing with these kinds of issues you need to
remember that you can trust God.
(a) If God takes something away from you, it is for
His glory.
(b) If God takes something away from you, it is for
your good.
(c) If God takes something away from you, He has
something better.
5. \\#1Cor 10:13\\ Seek the way out
a. The second reason most people stiffen up when dealing with
controversial issues is because they don’t think they can
do without it.
(1) God always provides a way out or a way to bear it!
(2) As long as the Book is true, God will provide you the
ability to be victorious!
(3) Humble yourself and seek it!
b. How?
(1) Seek from the Word.
(a) From the Word we get truth.
(b) Truth sets us free.
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
(c) Truth gives us the desire to be free and that is
essential.
(2) Seek from a godly church.
(a) A godly church gives us the teaching and preaching to
encourage us.
(b) A godly church gives us the examples of those who
have already done it.
(c) A godly church gives us partners that can hold us
accountable.
6. \\#1Cor 10:14\\ Flee idolatrous situations
1Cor 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
a. You may have thought this was not related to Paul’s discussion
of eating meat offered to idols, but it is.
b. In helping Christians deal with controversial issues, Paul
lays out another of those hard and steadfast principals.
c. If it is associated with idolatry, idols, Satan’s kingdom, the
occult - FLEE FROM IT!
(1) Some things are nearly as complicated as we want to make
out.
(2) Deliberately eating meat that has been offered to idols?
(3) Why would a Christian want to have any direct and
deliberate contact with anything of the devil?
(a) Satanic meat?
(b) Satanic music?
(c) Satanic art?
(d) Satanic worship?
(e) Satanic entertainment?
d. Somewhere along the way, Americans have forgotten a basic
principal.
(1) They have forgotten in the White House and we have
forgotten it in the church.
(2) The principal - When you see the enemy, either hunker
down and fight or pack up and run.
You probably will never have occasion to eat meat that has been offered to idols,
but you will have a lot of other contemporary issues which fall into the same
category. If you are going to find the correct course of action, you must first
have the right kind of spirit.
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