Open your Bible to First Corinthians chapter eight. First Corinthians chapter eight. I was very encouraged. Is this thing turned on, by the way? Are we all right? I was very encouraged hearing Brother Elliot talking about J.J. Rouse. He has always been a real... Well, real encouragement to me, a brother who began ministering in the south of Ontario, and he just started doing that evangelistic work and kept on moving. And he was right at the time of the tide of immigration coming across where people were settling on the prairies in places like Calgary and a full Saskatoon and very difficult areas. and kept on moving until he came over to Vancouver. And he was one of the first who labored in the Vancouver area, and there's a high concentration of assemblies there today, and a lot of it owing to the work of J.J. Rouse. And I saw a picture recently. I never met him. I've seen a few photographs of him, and it appears to what Eliot says is true. It looked as if he had another nose growing on the first one. He was so grotesque. Remember one time he was staying at this one home and the little kids, they'd come around, they'd gawk up at him, you know, and he'd lean down and he'd say, you know how my nose got to be this way? And he'd look up and I don't think they were able to even answer. And he said, by sticking it in other people's business. He was that kind of fellow. But you know, he did go through some tremendous trials and I'm reminded of the time, I think he was in Calgary, I'm not sure where it was, but it was very difficult. It was one of those winters that settles in in those parts, very cold. And there was an Englishman who was married to a woman who was not saved. The Englishman was a believer, and he had a sod hut outside of town. And they were, he had some kids staying in this little sod hut outside of town. And one day the Englishman was on a hay rack. and it was heaped up with hay and he was on top of it and the rack suddenly lurched and that man came flying off that hay rack and hit his head on the frozen ground, broke his neck and died. And JJ and his wife were so concerned for him that they took, well, they were concerned for the family because he was a brother, they took the wife and the kids into their home, that winter. Well, up in those parts, when the winter settles in, you're virtually snowbound. And these kids were totally unmanageable. They had never had any discipline. And they were little monsters. And this woman wasn't so easy to get along with either. And Mrs. Rouse hung in there with that situation all winter long. But when the spring came, the mother, and I'm not sure how many kids, I want to say four children. But anyway, they moved out. And Mrs. Rouse had a nervous breakdown. And you know, I think about that. These people who've gone out to labor in difficult places like that, they've paid a price, haven't they? And it's not an easy thing. But when you know the will of God, you say, well, if this is God's will for me, and I don't see any other option other than disobedience, I'm going to do this thing. And sometimes these things can hurt. But the scripture says, faithful are the wounds of a friend. You know, a wound is not a superficial cut. A wound is something you don't quickly recover from. I remember George Whitfield, he said, Before God will use a man mightily, he will wound him mightily. And not that God is cruel or anything like that. And I don't want to have a kind of a morose, austere view of God. It's not that way at all. But God will, in his dealings with us, bring us through some difficult times. Through much tribulation you must enter into the kingdom. That's what Barnabas said, right? In Acts, that ye must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom. So we sure thank God for these examples of faith that have been before us. And I think all the different brothers have been talking about different Christians they've known, and what a blessing they have been in their lives. The scripture says, He that walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. And I think for every young person here, do you want to be a spiritual young person? How godly do you want to be? If you just hang around with people who are at the same level of maturity that you're at, how do you expect to get ahead? If you're really serious about going on for God, you ought to find, seek out people who are the most godly people you know and make them your close friends. And if you can't find one, read about one. And you think about it. When you hold these hymn books in your hands, I think this is another great opportunity to commune with God's people. I open those hymn books. And here inside these hymn books are the highest aspirations of some of the deepest men and women of God that the church has ever known. And you can make their expressions of worship and thanksgiving and praise your own. He that walks with wise men shall be wise. It doesn't mean hobnob with wise men. It says walk with them. Another means keep pace with them. Go where they go. Do what they do. Occupy yourself in that way. Does that sound advice? I mean, are you with me? I'm not saying that you don't appreciate your peers, but seek out, even though they may be outside of your age group, and it may be difficult to find them. If there's a man of God who comes through these parts, you've got to travel a hundred miles to hear him, do it. Make it your practice to avail yourself of spiritual influences. And really, for every family, that ought to be our practice. Amen. I just feel very strongly this way. You know, as a young person, I was faced with this because I discovered I made some very bad blunders and mistakes as a college student. And I realized that I was a fool. And I thought, well, you know, the people I'm hanging around with, they don't know any more than I do. And if I just all the time only spend my time with these people, I'm never going to get out of this problem. And so I determined... And I can't say how successful I've been, but that was my determination. That I was going to find people that knew God and seek them out. And I thank God for that. He that walks with wise men shall be wise. For the companion of fools shall be destroyed. Well, that's really not my subject matter tonight. But I thought it might be an encouragement to you. A little challenge. and you just take it however you know I'm not I'm not chewing on anyone really I'm just I'm just thinking of you that this might be a help to you let's look for a little bit in first Corinthians chapter eight there he the Apostle Paul discusses the idea of knowledge and throughout this chapter you'll notice the number of words for talking about the intellect knowledge knowing, conscience. Conscience is just the word with knowledge. Science is knowledge. Cone is with. Cone is science with knowledge. And every one of us are born with certain innate awarenesses, I guess. We call that our conscience. You have a conscience within you. And there are some things that you never had to attend a class to know, but you are sensitive to. You have a little alarm system inside of you, your conscience. And so he discusses the issue of conscience here in chapter eight. And this is an important chapter because it will discuss difficult issues, sensitive issues, which we all face. It's going to talk about areas of weakness. I think that we live in a time in which the church generally is experiencing great weakness. There's weakness in the church at large. He talks about weakness in here. People who are called weaker brethren. He talks about the intellect, knowledge. And so we certainly live in a day in which people are exalting knowledge. And there's a lot of pseudo-intellectualism. And he talks about people who are plagued in their conscience because of sin. Corinth was an evil town. It was a wicked town. And we live in an evil day. In which? I think iniquity is coming in like a flood. And so this is one of those chapters, chapter eight of first Corinthians, which is often neglected. Whenever I was reading through Corinthians, I was quite interested when I came in that passage where he talked about over in chapter three about the wood hay and the stubble and the carnal brethren and then about the church discipline and saying in chapter five and about the and then in chapter six he talks about how there are certain people who will not inherit the kingdom of God and this all was very interesting to me but somehow after chapter seven I just kind of skimmed over in my mind way over into chapter nine and then into ten and eleven and I was quite interested then and when I got into chapter twelve and this was a chapter that I really wonder well what is you know what's the interest what's the point here well really this is an important passage for us to get a hold of and I think we may find it quite helpful now as touching things offered unto idols we know that we all have knowledge and in your own mind You might want to note that word, knowledge, knowledge puffed up, but charity, love, builds up. If any man thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know, but if any man loves God, the same is known of him. As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world. and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many and lords many, but to us, there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him, how be it. There is not in every man that knowledge, for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commends us not to God. For neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee, which hath knowledge, that it meet in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died. For when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I'll eat no meat while the world stands, lest I make my brother to offend. The first thing that the Apostle does when he begins the chapter is he puts everyone on level ground. We've got a problem here at Corinth. And this problem, we read about it, well, meets sacrifice idols. We don't, I guess, exactly face that. Maybe we do. There are some things which would be very similar to it. in our day but there are Corinth there was food which was offered at an idol temple and then they would take that same meat which had been sanctified and perhaps it was very good meat you know very choice and then they would bring it down to the meat market and here in one bin down in the meat market would be this this food which was just common food and then over here why this other food which was sanctified over at the idol temple and some of these converts at Corinth they had had experience in their pre-conversion days in the idol temple. And they knew what went on there. They knew about the immorality. They knew about the demonic activity there and the wickedness and the false teaching, the doctrines that went on there. And they wanted to stay absolutely as far away from anything associated with that temple as possible. And when they came out into the meat market and they saw this food, why they thought, I don't want to have any kind of association with anything having to do with that food. There are other Christians who didn't really feel it was a big issue. To them, it was a non-moral issue. Whether or not you eat this meat or whether you eat that meat. And I really think that Paul backs that up. He says, actually, the food's the food. And it really wouldn't matter in actual fact. The only reason Paul says why you wouldn't eat this meat sacrificed to idols, not because it's morally wrong to eat the meat, but simply you don't eat it if it's going to offend the one who has scruples about it. So there are some people who say, look, this is a non-moral issue and I have perfect Christian liberty to eat this meat sacrificed to idols. It's a non-moral issue, right? You'd have a hard time persuading somebody who had experience in the temple about that. Many of these Christians were very grieved. anything associated with that temple and do we face situations like that today in the church and among believers where there are issues which we say what's a non-moral issue oh no the moral issue they'll say you go to some places and the issue of whether or not you wear a tie that's a moral issue you know I was at one place and they said well the only time you read about ties in the Bible is This really appealed to me, by the way, this interpretation is in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They tied them up, and then when they put them in the fire, the only thing that was burned off were their ties. So you do have a little malice within you sometimes. Who invented these nooses anyway? Well, there are issues that we sometimes face. Some believers think this is a moral issue. Whereas in actual fact, it's non-moral. And it's an area of conflict. Are there issues that Christians disagree on? Well, I think so. Some of those issues that Christians disagree on come under the heading of what's discussed in First Corinthians chapter eight. Okay? Now, what's the difference in the mindset of these two groups of Christians? What's the difference? Why is it that some people are afraid of this meat that's offered to an idol? For some reason, in their thinking, they can't seem to differentiate between the meat in the meat market, between the idol, which Paul says here, as far as in the world, an idol is nothing. What is an idol? It's just a block of wood. It's a piece of metal. It's just a stone or something. That's all it is. It's nothing. I'm not afraid if I if I'm walking down the street and I see an idol oh but wait a second you get over here into chapter ten he tells us something more that what the heath and offer to the idols are really offering to demons and so standing behind that idol in that idol temple is a demon accepting the worship of the devotees in that idol temple okay here are things that differ there's the real spiritual realm demonic forces Well, then you've got the idol temple with all their empty rituals. And then you've got the things that are associated with that idol temple, the meat and other things. And a discerning Christian is able to differentiate these things. Hey, the meat is the meat. The meat has got the same nutrients, the same, as far as the vitamin content in this meat, no different than this meat over here. It's not a problem in their thinking. but there are other Christians who they're not able for some reason in their own thinking to make a distinction between these things and so you read over in verse seven let me note let me point you to verse seven how be it there is not in every man that knowledge for some people when they think about these idols they loom very big in their thinking Paul says And he takes the occasion of talking about this to say, look, we serve a big God. God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's trying to elevate our thinking above this area of conflict. Here's an area in which Christians don't agree. And then Paul, he wants to elevate us above this and get big thoughts about God. And so early on, he says, as concerning therefore in verse four, the things... the eating of those things which are offered in sacrifice unto idols. We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many and lords many, but to us. Verse six, there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Paul says, listen, we've got a big God that we serve. He is the originator of all things and the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we would have that in mind, we'd realize just how great our standing is as opposed to these idols. and take us away from the dread and the fear, here were people, Christians, who were really being ruled in their mind by superstition, you see, and terrified by what's going on in the idol temple. It was too big for them. Paul says, you've got to get over that. The weaker brethren then, according to this passage, are those who, they're not able to make these distinctions and they're afraid, and these idols seem very big to them. They lack knowledge. Well, beloved, you couldn't go to one of these Corinthians and with an argument exactly persuade them in their conscience. Their conscience would condemn them. If they were sitting there around some table and the hostess comes up and says, how do you like the roast today? Oh, it's really good. I thought you'd like it. I picked it up at the idol temple. And, you know, excuse me, their own conscience would condemn them. Well, beloved, in this passage we're taught that these consciences of ours, if anything, are not infallible. A mass conscience, according to this chapter, can become defiled. Is the conscience infallible? No. Conscience can become defiled. The conscience can become emboldened. It can kind of do a switch so that your conscience is actually telling you to do the very thing that it's meant to warn you against. Here were people in Nazi Germany who in good conscience were working for Adolf Hitler. It was as if their conscience was emboldened to do things totally opposite to the will of God. emboldened conscience or in verse twelve you read about a wounded conscience a disabled conscience so the conscience is not infallible the conscience must be informed by the word of God that's the point I think as I read this we don't just because you have strong feelings about something it may be very convinced of it in your heart doesn't mean it's biblical And you have to bring your strong convictions and feelings before the bar of the Word of God and say, is it biblical? They're weaker brethren in verse seven because they lack knowledge. How be it there is not in every man that knowledge. For some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol. So we're dealing with some people who... seem to view the whole issue quite soberly, seem to be able to distinguish things that differ. They're not superstitious, but other Christians who lack knowledge, perhaps their past experiences make them a little superstitious, and they're troubled. Now, when Paul writes the passage, he's talking then to people, some with more knowledge than others, and he brings them all right down to a level ground. That's what he does right away. He says, we know that we all have knowledge. We have some knowledge. Some of you folks, you think you've got so much knowledge that you're quite different. But really, you know, you've got a little bit more knowledge. You know a little bit more. We all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but charity, that is love, it builds up. And if any man thinks that he knows anything, that's in verse two. And W.E. Vine has a very good note on this. And it's in that little commentary. Now you can some, I think you can get a hold of W.E. Vine's collected writings. Are they still available? I guess Pat's gone. And I don't think he had the book on his shelf. But W.E. Vine commenting on this passage notes the difference in the word for knowing. And he paraphrases it like this. Or translates it like this. If any man thinks that he has attained a full knowledge by learning. is if to become an expert. Oh, I've studied this issue. I mean, you know, when you hear a discussion going on about some topic, step aside, everyone, I've got the answer. You know, I've looked into this issue. If any man thinks that he has attained unto a full knowledge, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. Or as Vine translates it, he hasn't begun to learn He hasn't yet, he doesn't know yet how to learn. In the second part of the verse, it's talking about gaining knowledge. He is not, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. He doesn't, he doesn't know how to learn. We as believers must never get beyond the stage of being learners, right? As believers, we have to maintain that attitude. Look, I'm not an expert. There's no reason why I ought to be priding myself if I know a little bit more than the next brother, as if I'm a superior Christian. Is this the thing which really makes us better? Well, no. Paul says, but if any man loved God, well, this is a different matter. The same is known of him. Now, when I would read verse three, if it had been me writing this, I don't think I would have said it this way. You know how I would have written this? If it had been up to me, I would say, if any man loves God, that person knows God. But Paul doesn't say it that way. He says, if any man knows God, if any man loves God, God knows him. Oh, oh. See, we put this premium on all the things that we know. I know a little bit more than the next brother. I'm able to make discernments and distinctions. These other brothers, they're so superstitious and funny and silly about some of this stuff. And they can't discriminate between easy issues and I can see it very clearly. And I know so much more. Well, when we compare the little bit that we know to God's knowledge, Oh, then suddenly we realize, oh, well, I don't really know very much, do I? And that the great thing, the level ground at which all Christians stand before God is God's knowledge of us. And there's a number of passages that want you to turn with me to them throughout the scriptures that talk about God's knowledge of us. For instance, over in Second Timothy, He uses this in chapter two, verse nineteen. Nevertheless, the foundation of God stands sure, this is the foundation, having this seal, the Lord knows them that are his. And let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Do I know who all are the believers, who are really Christians? Here's I look over the crowd. No, the Lord knows those that really belong to Him. But in the meantime, though I'm not able to make a final judgment on that point, I can say to you, look, if you're living in sin, depart from iniquity. I have no right to call somebody a brother in Christ who's living in willful sin. If a person is unrepentant and living in open sin, I would say, listen, you claim to be a believer and the Lord knows whether you really are one. But if you want to demonstrate that you're really saved, depart from iniquity. The Lord knows them that are his. But the point is, this is God's, this is the foundation. It's not that whether we know him so much as that he knows us. And in Galatians, you have a similar expression in chapter four of Galatians. How be it, then, this is actually talking a similar topic as what you have in First Corinthians eight, when he knew not God, he did service unto them which by nature are no God. But now, after that you have known God, you've come to know God, or rather, and I like this, or rather are known of God. Yes, we've come to know who God is, but really the more important thing is God has come to know us. Or rather are known by God. How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and times and years. I'm afraid of you lest I bestowed upon you labor in vain. in Nahum chapter one. There's a beautiful verse. The Lord is good. Verse seven. A stronghold in the day of trouble. And he knows them that are his. He knows them that trust in him. That's it. The Lord is good. And so the foundation upon which we stand is not so much how much we know about God. We know him. But rather that he knows us. That that we have entered into a personal relationship and it's not one-sided. I know him, yes, but he knows me. And his knowledge of me is so much more complete. He knows who I am. He knows that I'm dust. He knows my frailty. He knows my weakness. You know, if we weren't really, if we didn't really know that God was a God of love, that God is good, if we didn't trust God, we'd be terrified by this idea, wouldn't we? God knowing us. Unbelievers don't like this thing. They're terrified to think that God sees them. But for us, this is our foundation. This is the thing we rejoice in. God knows me. I'm so glad. After all, but I think about all the things that I face in the future and all these fears that I have. You remember how Jeremiah, when he was thinking about serving God, and what did God say to him? Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Remember in Jeremiah, he didn't want to go out and preach. He didn't want to serve God. He was afraid to do it. God comes and says, I knew you. And before thou cameeth forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nation. You see, God's knowledge of us becomes then the foundation that we can always turn back to. and a basis for serving God, knowing that he sought everything out. God spoke about Adam and he said, shall I hide from Abraham? What did I say, Abraham? God speaking about Abraham, he said, shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do? Or was it Abram? Anyway, in chapter eighteen, shall I hide from him the thing that I do? And he says, well, he's going to become a great nation. And then he says, for I know him. that he shall command his children after him. God knew him. Beloved, God knows you. And this is the kind of thing that we need to constantly come back to. These foundational truths, you know, when you're going through difficulties and trials in your Christian life, it's the basic truths of justification and your basic foundational relationship to God that are going to bring you through those hard times. Is that true? I don't think it's so much the deeper truths. I mean, there are those things. Like old Mr. Darby used to say, the cream is on the surface. And these basic, obvious truths of the Word of God, that's the anchor. Now, when he talks here about God's knowledge of us, this really is level ground for everyone and brings us all to where we ought to be. And then... You notice how that he talks about these people who are weak. I said that they're weak because of a lack of knowledge. That's in verse seven. But sometimes we have people who want to put restrictions on God's people, basing their restrictions on this chapter. Listen, you don't want to do that because you might offend a weaker brother. You ever had that? You ever heard that? Well, sometimes it's true. But the question is, who is a weaker brother? Go down with me to verse eleven. Verse eleven of this chapter. For through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. A weaker brother is a weaker brother who is unstable. And if he was out in the meat market and he saw you walking by and you bought that meat, and he's offended by it, he may think, oh, you mean that brother Dave bought meat there? Well, huh, I guess he's endorsing what goes on in that heathen temple. Maybe it's all right for me to go in and, you know, I was kind of, I was thinking that it was a bad place. And so if he sees you buying the meat, he thinks, well, and then he goes into the heathen and gets himself in all kinds of trouble. That would be one way. Or another way in which a person would be offended and stumbled, and as he uses the word perish or destroyed, a weaker brother may see you buying meat. And he says, oh, well, there's Dave, and he's buying meat in that heathen temple. I thought I could trust Dave. Here he was. He was the one who preached to me, said all those wonderful, glorious truths in the Word of God. And I was just rejoiced in all those things. I can't trust anything that Dave ever told me anymore. And they throw everything overboard. That happens. Where they see you doing something which they consider wrong and everything goes right out the window. They're offended. A weaker brother is an unstable brother who, when they see you doing something which goes against their scruples, they become destroyed. They are damaged spiritually. As an illustration, I was counseling with a brother. He's a German Baptist and a real strict denomination. He was up in the Upper Peninsula named John. I was talking with John in his living room. And amongst the German Baptists, they have all kinds of scruples. One of the things is that they cut their hair... Well, all the fellows comb their hair straight back and they cut it right across you. You can tell a German Baptist from a Dunkirk or a Mennonite or an Amish, because of the way they cut the hair. And all the ladies wear the same cut in their dress. Thankfully, not the same size, but they all wear the same cut. And they... And so they all have the same, and they have these yearly conferences and they discuss the finer points of how their head coverings should look and so on. They call it a uniform. Now we believe in modesty. We believe in modesty. We believe that Christians ought to dress according to their gender. That's right. That's biblical. We believe that Christians should not dress in an ostentatious way to display their wealth. That's fine. But they believe... beyond that, beyond scriptural teaching, that Christians should all dress uniformly. And they talk about a uniform. And all the believers all have the same kinds of outfits. This is one of their scruples. And one of the things is they're against electronics so that they believe that having a tape player is wrong. Not only when they buy a car, they remove the radio out of the car. And they believe that having a tape player is wrong. Well, I was talking with John, and he said, well, you know, I don't really think anything wrong with owning a tape player. In fact, he said, I had a tape player in this other church I was in, and then one of the elders came over, and he said, you know, John, you having that tape player, you might stumble a weaker brother. And as he was telling me this, I turned over to this passage in First Corinthians chapter eight. Oh, well I said, well you see, what this is teaching here is that the weaker brother is somebody who might be destroyed. Somebody who, if they see you doing that thing, that questionable thing, they're going to fall into sin of some sort and make shipwreck spiritually and get in difficulty. And I said to John, well now John, this elder tells you that you having that cape wave is going to offend the weaker brother. was anyone, was there a weaker brother, was there somebody who was going to sin by you having the tape player? And John said, oh yes. So, well, who was the weaker, who was going to sin? He said, well, this elder was. And then I said to John, well, how is he going to sin? And John says, well, he was going to actually communicate me. Well, that's a true story. And so, hey, is that an abuse of this passage? A weaker brother is not some crotchety guy who says, well, I'm just against this and against that, and if you do this, I'll throw a tantrum. There are people like that, and they want to institute all kinds of rules as far as a dress code. And, hey, by the way, I believe in modesty. I believe that there are certain things, biblical principles governing the way we dress. But there's something that the Bible goes so far and no further. And so there are some areas in which, look, we've got to have the Bible for what we teach. And you start making rules for God's people that you can't back up on this book. You're in trouble. What you're doing is you are virtually ensuring that you're going to have weaker brethren. You're kind of institutionalizing the process. And so we're not helping people. We've got to make sure that we've got the book behind us. And so let's not abuse this passage. I think there are a few ways in which this passage is abused. One way is it's not read. It's not looked into. People ignore the instructions in First Corinthians eight. Hey, there are issues which Christians differ on which are non-moral issues. There are some of those kinds of things. Some areas of difference among Christians fall into this category. Not every difference among Christians is settled over in Second Corinthians chapter six. Are you with me? I know some people, every time they have a disagreement with another brother, they say, how can two walk together unless they be agreed? Come up from among them, be separate. And that's it. Bingo. And they just split right there. Is there a place for tolerance? Is there a place for perseverance? Is there a place for patience amongst us? Is there a place for getting together and praying about issues or giving instruction in the word? I think so. So not every difference among believers is settled in Second Corinthians six. Another area in which this passage is abused is that some people say, well, this is teaching us. that if something offends our conscience, we ought to stay away from it. And they use this passage to kind of enthrone the conscience as the final arbiter. I don't think that's what he's teaching here. If anything, he's telling us that our consciences are very fallible, and our consciences must be brought under the direct guidance of the Word of God. And he is not teaching in this passage that the weak brothers are the ones who legislate on all the rules. When Paul comes to the end of the chapter, he says this, wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no meat while the world stands. Now he says that, but as far as we know, there's no evidence in all the New Testament that Paul became a vegetarian hereafter. What is he saying? He's saying, no, brothers, never deliberately, never deliberately, knowingly offend a brother. When you know that something's going to bother him, something's going to offend him, you don't go and do those things. You don't go to those places or eat those things that you know. Look, if you go to the home of Christians and their vegetarians and they've got convictions about it, well, you don't rub their nose and their scruples. If they've got convictions about this, well, just thank God for them and let them be. And if it's something that you, you know, if God leads you to talk about, that's fine. But you don't willingly, deliberately offend them on that point. And so this passage, I think, has been abused. And we would do well as we'd follow the apostles' example. It was an example of love. We talked earlier about the good Samaritans. And what the Lord Jesus taught that Samaritan is is that the love of God is like light. Wherever you set up a candle, and that candle begins to burn, that light shines all around. And the light is indiscriminate of the object that falls upon, isn't it? When somebody wants to limit where that light falls, that's not love. That love wants, it's indiscriminate in those that it wants to shine upon. And when we determine in our minds, well, you know, these brethren, they've got these scruples and I don't care if I offend them or how I treat them or if they get offended. What does he say here? When we sin against a weaker brother, we sin against not just the brother, but he says the brethren. We sin against all the Christians. That brother, though he's a weaker brother, he is the soul for whom Christ died. And when we sin against that person, we sin against Christ. So our real evidence that we love God, and if we claim to know so much and to understand these issues, we ought to not only know God, but be living in the enjoyment that God knows us and we ought to love him back. And if we do love him, we're not going to deliberately sin against our fellow Christians. Well, I've probably been raising issues and talking things tonight. I've probably been out of bounds already. But I hope this might give us some help. Crowns, especially here in the United States, different doctrinal persuasions. And it really requires... a real love. Paul said that we might be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love. I see this. You know, if all I know about a Christian is a phone number, I can get on the phone and chew that person up and down. If all I have is an address, but when I see their faith, I was just the other day, there was a brother, and I know him real well, and he had done something, and I was so mad, I just could have strangled him. Well, I wouldn't have strangled him, but I... I was really upset with him. And I was saying, you know, there's a couple things I'm going to tell him when I see him. One is, and I knew that both of these things were going to hurt his feelings. You know, I'm going to tell him this, and I'm going to tell him this. And then he drove up in front of my house, opened the door, got out, helped a couple of his little children out the door, come up. Just when I saw a face, just because my heart melted, and I said, I can't even believe I didn't even think that way. You know, when we get, when we, beloved, we need to learn to love one another. And that's why Paul and the apostles, they talk about, well, they see one another face to face. Face to face. This is what we need. We know that's true. We don't love the Lord like we want to, but face to face with Christ my Savior, face to face, what will it be? When with rapture, I behold Him, Jesus Christ, who died for me. And right now, we need to... Learn in the Lord's absence the love of people. God help us. Let's pray. Do we pray for our brethren down in Kansas City? We pray. Let's pray. Our Father, we just give thanks for this time together. And we pray, oh God, to help us as Christians. In those areas where we might have disagreements, and things which we feel very strongly about. Oh, God, give us wisdom in dealing with those kinds of issues. Father, we pray, too, that we might have big thought about thyself and about thy son. Oh, God, help us, even as Paul exalted the Lord, that we would exalt him and keep him in front of us, to be thinking about him and to learn to love him, Father, we give thanks for these great foundational truths, and not beyond our ignorance, that all the things we know and all the things we don't know, that God knows us. Oh, God, we give thanks for that. That He's in charge. Father, we thank You. Think of our brethren down in Kansas City, and oh, God, in this disappointment, this discouragement, and all the work in front of them. We pray to give them great boldness, and that they might experience the power and the joy of the Spirit of God as they face this persecution. Father, we pray then for good out of this and that the Lord Jesus may save precious souls and many be won and brought in to know and love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray this for His glory. Amen.