More Idol Advice

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:10.750 Please do. And let's turn to First Corinthians, chapter ten. I'm going 2 00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:16.510 to read from versus twenty two through the end of this chapter, which actually 3 00:00:16.550 --> 00:00:22.059 includes the beginning of chapter eleven. As you'll see, it's divided in your 4 00:00:22.699 --> 00:00:26.100 many of your bibles will have that, and so I'll read that now. 5 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:36.009 We were going to be focusing in particular on verse Thirty Three and eleven verse 6 00:00:36.210 --> 00:00:39.490 one, but let's read this whole section. So, First Corinthians ten, 7 00:00:39.609 --> 00:00:47.090 verse twenty two. Shall we provoke the Lord to Jealousy? Are we stronger 8 00:00:47.170 --> 00:00:51.359 than he? All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. 9 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:56.840 All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one 10 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.399 seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever sold 11 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:04.510 in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, for 12 00:01:04.629 --> 00:01:10.469 the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If one of the unbelievers 13 00:01:10.510 --> 00:01:14.790 invites you to dinner and you're disposed to go, eat whatever is set before 14 00:01:14.870 --> 00:01:19.099 you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says 15 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:25.340 to you this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it for 16 00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:27.459 the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience. 17 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:33.650 I do not mean your conscience, the his. For why should my 18 00:01:33.769 --> 00:01:38.370 liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why 19 00:01:38.370 --> 00:01:42.930 am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether 20 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:48.200 you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of 21 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:53.280 God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of 22 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.599 God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not 23 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:02.349 seeking my own advantage but that of many, that they may be saved. 24 00:02:04.030 --> 00:02:10.270 Be Imitators of me as I am of Christ. Amen, you may be 25 00:02:10.349 --> 00:02:30.370 seated. So preaching today on these last few verses at the end of chapter 26 00:02:30.530 --> 00:02:36.490 ten and the First Verse of Chapter Eleven, and then I'll take a break 27 00:02:36.530 --> 00:02:40.569 from first Corinthians through for a few weeks as we focus on the incarnation of 28 00:02:40.610 --> 00:02:45.919 the Lord, and then will return, most likely in Lord welling in the 29 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:52.719 New Year, to chapter eleven. Today I'd like to focus in particular on 30 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:57.039 these verses here at the end, when Paul says be imitators of me as 31 00:02:57.080 --> 00:03:02.150 I am of Christ. When a student goes to a teacher for a lesson, 32 00:03:02.270 --> 00:03:07.310 that teacher sets an example right and a wise student will try to follow 33 00:03:07.349 --> 00:03:12.349 it. That could be a math problem done on the board, an arm 34 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:19.379 lift in a dance studio or logic exemplified in a courtroom. And as we 35 00:03:19.500 --> 00:03:23.340 follow the example of our teacher who gives us this model, what are we 36 00:03:23.379 --> 00:03:28.650 supposed to do now? We pay attention to their instructions and we follow their 37 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:32.409 example. We notice the theory and the practice, the doctrine in their life. 38 00:03:34.169 --> 00:03:38.330 We take their lead, their ideas, and we follow them. We 39 00:03:38.610 --> 00:03:46.039 learn. Paul tells us to be his students, to imitate me, as 40 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:50.840 I am of Christ. And what is the lesson that Paul wants us to 41 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:54.830 learn? What is the thing our teacher is teaching us? It's about love, 42 00:03:57.030 --> 00:04:00.789 love for God and love for men, and the great obstacles to this, 43 00:04:00.150 --> 00:04:08.270 which are idolatry and selfishness. But Jesus helps us to overcome these by 44 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:13.419 giving us, as our teacher, his apostle. That's why Paul says imitate 45 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:19.620 me and says as I follow Christ. So how are we to Imitate Paul? 46 00:04:20.699 --> 00:04:24.410 How we imitate Paul, our teacher, will depend, of course, 47 00:04:24.490 --> 00:04:27.250 on the lesson he wants us to learn, the lesson that he's been teaching 48 00:04:27.290 --> 00:04:30.050 teaching us. So we have to pay very close attention to what Paul is 49 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:35.050 saying. If you go to your math class and you comb your hair exactly 50 00:04:35.129 --> 00:04:40.000 like your math teacher, but you don't actually learn the lesson, you haven't 51 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:45.839 imitated your teacher as your teacher desires you to do. So what is your 52 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:49.240 what is our teacher? What is Paul? What is Christ teaching us? 53 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:55.589 Well, the idea that we ought to imitate Paul in everything he does is 54 00:04:56.230 --> 00:05:00.870 certainly not what he means. That's a silly idea. Each person has their 55 00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:04.149 own calling, in their own gifts from God. Paul is not you and 56 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:09.779 you are not Paul. Paul says himself, and First Corinthians twelve, that 57 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:14.939 there is a variety of gifts, variety of services, a variety of activities, 58 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:18.899 all in the one body of Christ. In twelve. Verse Twenty says, 59 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:24.370 as it is, there are many parts, yet one body. So 60 00:05:24.490 --> 00:05:27.730 you don't want the foot trying to be an eye. You don't want your 61 00:05:27.769 --> 00:05:32.329 eye trying to be a foot. So if Paul doesn't want us to travel 62 00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:38.040 back in time and do bad Paul Impressions, what does he want us to 63 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:44.480 do? How do we imitate him when we are different than him. Well, 64 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:48.839 we imitate Paul, not by mimicking his uniqueness in the body of Christ, 65 00:05:49.470 --> 00:05:56.149 but by imitating his relationship to the body of Christ, by the love 66 00:05:56.189 --> 00:06:00.350 of that he has for her and shows for her, even as Christ showed 67 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:04.139 for her. And remember, this is what he's been teaching us, since 68 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:09.620 Chapter Eight, in fact, on Paul has been dealing with this very practical 69 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:15.540 question about whether or not Christians should eat food sacrifice to idols, and his 70 00:06:15.660 --> 00:06:20.730 simple answer has been it's fine to do so unless it brings harm to someone's 71 00:06:20.769 --> 00:06:30.730 conscience, even if that conscience is ill informed and ill informed or an ignorant 72 00:06:30.250 --> 00:06:38.480 conscience. A badly informed conscience is, he said, describes a weak conscience. 73 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:44.399 He says there is a knowledge that some it possessed, but not all 74 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:48.029 are informed. In Chapter Eight, verse seven, he says not all possessed 75 00:06:48.149 --> 00:06:54.550 this knowledge. This is a weakness. He says it is not good. 76 00:06:56.230 --> 00:07:01.620 The ignorant and the weak should learn. Their consciences must be informed. But 77 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:06.660 while Paul doesn't only want our consciences to be formed with regard to food, 78 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:13.339 he also wants our consciences to be formed with regard to our relationship to one 79 00:07:13.379 --> 00:07:16.170 another. It's not good, in other words, to say, well, 80 00:07:16.250 --> 00:07:23.009 I'm free to eat this food, but I can hate my brother in the 81 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:28.889 process. That's not a hunciens that is properly calibrated, that's not a conscience 82 00:07:29.449 --> 00:07:33.480 that is being set by the love of God and the true freedom that we 83 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:39.360 have in Christ. In First Corinthians Eight, nine through twelve, Paul says 84 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:44.829 this, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a 85 00:07:44.949 --> 00:07:48.670 stumbling block for the week. For if anyone sees you, who have knowledge, 86 00:07:48.709 --> 00:07:53.750 eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his 87 00:07:53.829 --> 00:07:58.189 conscience is weak, to eat food offered idols? And so, by your 88 00:07:58.389 --> 00:08:03.300 knowledge, this weak person is destroyed the brother for whom Christ died, thus 89 00:08:03.339 --> 00:08:09.420 sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience. It is weak. You Sin 90 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:13.930 Against Christ. Let me put it this way. What advantages it to have 91 00:08:15.170 --> 00:08:20.250 the freedom to eat if we use it to sin against those who have freedom 92 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:28.920 in Christ like us? Paul concludes these verses with this and First Corinthians Eight, 93 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:33.519 verse thirteen. Therefore, if food makes a my brother's stumble, I 94 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:37.200 will never eat me, lest I make my brother stumble. And there it 95 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:43.389 is Paul's example, his lesson for his students that we are called to follow. 96 00:08:43.990 --> 00:08:48.389 And he picks that up again here in our chapter. So to read 97 00:08:48.549 --> 00:08:52.309 again from First Corinthians Ten, particularly verses twenty eight, to the beginning of 98 00:08:52.389 --> 00:08:56.700 twenty nine. What does he say? He says, but if someone says 99 00:08:56.740 --> 00:09:01.059 to you this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it, 100 00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:03.659 for the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience. 101 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:09.700 I do not mean your conscience, but his. And then he turns 102 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:13.889 again to his own actions and he says, give no offense to Jews or 103 00:09:13.049 --> 00:09:18.090 to Greeks or to the Church of God, just as I try to please 104 00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:22.610 every one in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage but that of 105 00:09:22.730 --> 00:09:26.639 many, that they may be saved. He loves them, he wants to 106 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:31.600 see people saved, and so he calls us in that way to be imitators 107 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.600 of me, as I am of Christ. So when Paul, our teacher, 108 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:39.669 says we are to imitate him, he means primarily in two things, 109 00:09:39.710 --> 00:09:43.629 the view toward God, who saved us in Christ, and with a view 110 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:50.590 toward the salvation of others. Love of God and love of Man. That's 111 00:09:50.629 --> 00:09:54.259 how we are to imitate Paul. In everything we do, we should keep 112 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:58.860 in mind who we are in Christ and how our actions affect others, especially 113 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:07.450 those who are also in him. Now this teaches us a very important lesson 114 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:11.450 about our freedom in relationship to food and in relationship to a lot of other 115 00:10:11.570 --> 00:10:18.570 things. It teaches us this important doctrine that our freedom has a context. 116 00:10:18.690 --> 00:10:24.720 Just as a wild horse should enjoy running on the land and not try to 117 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:31.080 swim with whales. Our freedom exists and it thrives and it's happy in a 118 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:37.990 certain place, and that place is within the Triune love of God. The 119 00:10:37.149 --> 00:10:41.590 world will tell you a lie. The world will tell you that freedom means 120 00:10:43.190 --> 00:10:48.230 getting to do whatever you want. That's the definition the world uses, and 121 00:10:48.429 --> 00:10:52.980 the sooner you can learn that that's not freedom, that that definition is a 122 00:10:54.179 --> 00:11:01.340 bad definition and a lie, the happier you're going to be. Freedom is 123 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:07.250 living for God and through God and according to the will of God. That's 124 00:11:07.289 --> 00:11:11.850 what the scriptures say. That's what God, who is the most free being 125 00:11:11.970 --> 00:11:18.090 in everything, above creation itself, that's what he tells us freedom is. 126 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:26.240 We ought to listen to him consider as a scriptural argument for this, Paul's 127 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:30.919 great argument. In Romans six, in Roman hundred and twenty, he reminds 128 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.110 us that when we were slaves of sin, when we did whatever we wanted 129 00:11:35.269 --> 00:11:39.669 according to our own will and not according to God's, yes, we were 130 00:11:41.230 --> 00:11:46.830 free. These are are square coats, scare quotes in regard to righteousness, 131 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:50.700 but the question is, is that the freedom that we really want, the 132 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:58.100 freedom to disobey all the time, is not really freedom? Why? Because, 133 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:01.450 as Paul says in six hundred and twenty one, the end of that 134 00:12:01.649 --> 00:12:07.250 kind of freedom, the end of those things, is death. And I 135 00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:16.159 ask you, is death freedom? No. In Chapter Six, Verses Twenty 136 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:20.120 Two through twenty three, Paul says again. This is in Romans Paul says. 137 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:24.600 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves 138 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:31.309 of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal 139 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:35.870 life for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God 140 00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:43.470 is Eternal Life in Christ Jesus, Our Lord. You see what he's saying, 141 00:12:43.549 --> 00:12:48.340 how he's defining freedom here. Freedom from God and being a slave of 142 00:12:50.059 --> 00:12:54.740 sorry, freedom in disobedience to God and freedom in slavery. To Sin Means 143 00:12:54.860 --> 00:13:00.730 Death, and death is not freedom, but freedom to God that means being 144 00:13:00.850 --> 00:13:05.929 a slave to him, being a slave to righteousness. That means eternal life. 145 00:13:05.970 --> 00:13:11.210 and not just eternal life, but he says, eternal life. In 146 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:18.240 Christ Jesus our Lord, in union with the most free, the perfect and 147 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:28.269 Infinitely Free God, we live eternally. That's freedom. And how do we 148 00:13:28.389 --> 00:13:33.789 get that freedom? How do we get our union with Christ Jesus Our Lord? 149 00:13:33.110 --> 00:13:37.629 Do we get it from God as our wages? Do we earn our 150 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:43.340 everlasting life by serving him? Well enough, no, Paul says. The 151 00:13:43.539 --> 00:13:48.940 wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. 152 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:54.059 What that means, then, is that the freedom you and I have 153 00:13:54.419 --> 00:14:00.809 by belonging to Jesus, the freedom that we enjoy, is because the eternal 154 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:07.889 God of freedom and glory gave it to you. The freedom you enjoy to 155 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:13.600 serve God is freedom that has been given to you by God. Surely this 156 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:18.639 ought to affect how we use our freedom and matters like what we eat, 157 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:24.429 if we live and abide in the love of God that has been given to 158 00:14:24.509 --> 00:14:28.590 US freely in Christ Jesus our Lord. When we look at a piece of 159 00:14:28.750 --> 00:14:33.669 bread, for example, on our table, and recognize that it is God 160 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:37.470 who gave us to him, gave it to us. Should we not also 161 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:45.259 remember that the reason we can glorify him and enjoy him in the enjoyment of 162 00:14:45.379 --> 00:14:50.139 that bread is because he is also given to us, not just the bread 163 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:56.129 on our table, but Jesus Christ, as he is described in John, 164 00:14:56.769 --> 00:15:03.330 the bread of Heaven? The only reason that we can enjoy the earthly things 165 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:07.399 of God, the fullness of the Lord and all the earth, is because 166 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:13.480 the God of glory has broken the bread of heaven and given him to us. 167 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:20.759 If you, or I, or Paul give up certain earthly rights so 168 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:26.470 that we might honor that God and love others, it is only because Christ 169 00:15:26.629 --> 00:15:31.110 first gave up his rights for us. And think about what he gave up 170 00:15:31.669 --> 00:15:35.860 for us, what he gave up for you. The right to a fair 171 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:41.539 trial, the right to be treated with dignity, the right to be loved 172 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:46.899 by his friends, the right to keep what he owned, the right to 173 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:52.289 his life. He gave all of these things up out of love for you. 174 00:15:54.769 --> 00:15:58.570 He gave his very life to pay for our sins and to set us 175 00:15:58.570 --> 00:16:02.090 free, so that when we look at the bread. We don't worship some 176 00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:06.440 idol or worship the bread, but we can worship God who gave it to 177 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:11.960 us. Jesus says in John Thirty six, if the sun sets you free, 178 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:17.759 you will be free. Indeed, our freedom is not come from doing 179 00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:23.629 whatever we want. True freedom comes from living and abiding in Christ and the 180 00:16:23.750 --> 00:16:27.429 freedom he has given to us by laying down his own rights for us. 181 00:16:30.509 --> 00:16:33.299 So, when Paul says in Romans six, five through eight, if we 182 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:37.460 have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be 183 00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:42.860 united with him in a resurrection like his, we know that our old self 184 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:48.690 was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to 185 00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:55.730 nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin, for one 186 00:16:55.769 --> 00:16:59.850 who has died has been set free from sin. Now, if we have 187 00:17:00.049 --> 00:17:03.200 died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. This 188 00:17:03.319 --> 00:17:06.880 is a good news of the Gospel. This is a good news of the 189 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:10.480 freedom that we have in Christ. If you are a Christian, if you 190 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:15.680 are faith is in Christ, know that the sons set you free, that 191 00:17:15.869 --> 00:17:21.509 you and are enjoying all the amazing freedoms that you have because of him, 192 00:17:21.589 --> 00:17:23.950 not just the freedom to eat and give glory to God, but the freedom 193 00:17:25.309 --> 00:17:30.059 to no longer be liable to the penalty of sin, freedom to worship him 194 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:33.099 forever. You are free from The Dominion of your sin, you're free from 195 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:37.980 the tyranny of Satan, you're free from the yoke of the Old Covenant Law. 196 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:41.660 You're free to eat your food, you're free to give glory to God 197 00:17:41.819 --> 00:17:47.130 and all these things. Who cares whether it's been a sacrifice to an idol 198 00:17:47.170 --> 00:17:51.130 or not? At idol is nothing, Paul says. The food belongs to 199 00:17:51.210 --> 00:17:56.890 God and you belong to God, so enjoy it, enjoy your freedom. 200 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:03.440 Freedom is not doing whatever we want freedoms, living a life to God through 201 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.480 Jesus Christ, who lived for us. Freedom is not doing whatever we want, 202 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:14.430 living and loving only ourselves. Freedom is abiding in his love and serving 203 00:18:14.549 --> 00:18:19.390 others in that love and sharing that love with others so that they may also 204 00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:25.109 be saved as we are, so they may enjoy good, the greater freedoms, 205 00:18:25.589 --> 00:18:32.700 even the freedoms of eternal life, as we do. And so this 206 00:18:32.940 --> 00:18:36.980 Gospel, this good news that's given to us in Jesus, this freedom that 207 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:42.289 we have, it has a way of undoing. I are our idolatry. 208 00:18:44.490 --> 00:18:51.730 Praise God for that. Want to speak to two things, two ways that 209 00:18:51.849 --> 00:18:57.960 it undoes undoes our idolatry. We've seen that our character, the character and 210 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:03.279 source of our freedom is love and the love of Christ. Knowing that, 211 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:11.230 let's think about these two ways that that love changes things, especially the idols 212 00:19:11.269 --> 00:19:17.430 in our hearts. The first thing I want to speak to, might say, 213 00:19:17.670 --> 00:19:21.349 the first group. I want to speak to this to those of you 214 00:19:21.390 --> 00:19:27.420 who struggle with people pleasing. A people pleaser is one who believes that their 215 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:33.180 job in life is to make sure others are happy, or, to put 216 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:37.980 it more precisely, a people pleaser believes it's his or her job to make 217 00:19:37.059 --> 00:19:44.170 sure that other people are happy with them. A people people pleaser gets their 218 00:19:44.250 --> 00:19:51.730 sense of purpose and meaning from the happy evaluation of other people. Perhaps you've 219 00:19:51.769 --> 00:19:53.519 heard, I know you, for this phrase when mom ain't happy, no 220 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:59.079 one's happy, right and of course there's a certain sense of that's very true 221 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:03.319 and we ought to pay attention to how mom is feeling. But there's also 222 00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:07.710 a sense in which this idea that if another person's not happy, I'm not 223 00:20:07.950 --> 00:20:11.390 going to be okay. That kind of phrase becomes like a drug for a 224 00:20:11.549 --> 00:20:17.069 people pleaser. Sure, if mom is mad, we ought to pay attention. 225 00:20:17.190 --> 00:20:22.700 And maybe, but maybe, maybe, just maybe, sometimes mom's can 226 00:20:22.740 --> 00:20:27.299 be mad over silly things. Maybe Mama is using her anger to manipulate people 227 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:30.740 around her to get what she wants. Maybe she has a right to be 228 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:36.210 angry or maybe she doesn't. Or maybe she has a right to be angry, 229 00:20:36.529 --> 00:20:41.809 but it's her battle to fight and not yours. We're not talking just 230 00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:45.730 about moms here, but we're talking about bosses and friends and fathers and brothers 231 00:20:45.809 --> 00:20:52.960 and sisters and anyone we come into contact with. The people pleas are ignore 232 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.759 is all of those things. They ignore what is God's responsibility and what is 233 00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:03.839 other people's responsibility, because the people please are only wants one thing, the 234 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:11.470 approval of another person. Whether that person approves or doesn't approve, whether that 235 00:21:11.910 --> 00:21:15.630 person is right to be happy or upset or whatever, it doesn't matter to 236 00:21:15.710 --> 00:21:21.339 the people pleaser. The only thing that matters to a people pleaser is making 237 00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:26.660 sure that other people are happy with them. People pleasers think this way about 238 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:30.660 other people because they value that approval over all other things, and sadly, 239 00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:37.970 that often turns people pleaple people pleasers into shapeshifters, manipulators. You can never 240 00:21:38.049 --> 00:21:41.970 quite figure out what they are and what they want, because they're always moving, 241 00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:48.440 always always adjusting, always feeling the wind, changing their ideas, hiding 242 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.920 their true thoughts and feelings so as to get the approval of others. A 243 00:21:53.240 --> 00:22:00.039 people please Er ties his or her happiness not to God but to other people. 244 00:22:00.470 --> 00:22:04.869 In other words, the people pleaser is someone who struggles with idolatry. 245 00:22:07.670 --> 00:22:11.630 So I speak to people pleases for a moment, because Satan will want you 246 00:22:11.710 --> 00:22:15.299 to misread these verses and to keep you enslaved to your idol, and I 247 00:22:15.579 --> 00:22:21.420 don't want that to happen to you. When Paul says in Verse Thirty Three 248 00:22:21.940 --> 00:22:26.579 that I try to please everyone in everything I do, he is not being 249 00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:33.170 a people pleaser. How do we know this? Give you two reasons. 250 00:22:33.289 --> 00:22:37.089 The first one is, as I've pointed out, people pleasers are those who 251 00:22:37.170 --> 00:22:42.049 seek their own advantage. They want the approval of others. They serve others, 252 00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:45.839 perhaps, but it's to get an approval at a sense of peace in 253 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:52.960 their own soul. But Paul is not seeking his own advantage. Know what 254 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:56.079 this what he says? Not Seeking my own advantage. Right, he says 255 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:00.670 it very plainly. He does this work, he serves others, not to 256 00:23:02.150 --> 00:23:08.470 benefit himself but others. People pleasers pretend that they are doing things for others, 257 00:23:10.549 --> 00:23:14.500 but they are really loving and they can sorry, they can seem like 258 00:23:14.700 --> 00:23:18.660 really loving and self sacrificial people. But what is really going on as an 259 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:25.579 idolatrous appetite for the esteem of other people, even if it's unspoken. They 260 00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:30.569 love nothing more. They they fear not having that. But that's not what's 261 00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:33.569 going on for Paul, is it? Paul says he is not seeking his 262 00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:38.569 own advantage. And we know this because, though he is willing to accommodate 263 00:23:38.650 --> 00:23:45.960 himself to whatever situation he is in, he never sacrifices his deeper mission. 264 00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:52.279 He never sacrifices his principles. He's willing to give up the esteem and honor 265 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:56.269 of other people, even for the sake of his mission, for the sake 266 00:23:56.349 --> 00:23:59.950 of what God has called him to do. And we hear that in his 267 00:24:00.029 --> 00:24:02.950 words. Like Galatians one hundred and ten, he says, for am I 268 00:24:03.150 --> 00:24:07.910 now seeking the approval of man or of God? Am I trying to please 269 00:24:07.069 --> 00:24:11.299 man? If I were trying to please man, I would not be a 270 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:14.940 servant of Christ. In other words, if I were a people pleaser, 271 00:24:15.099 --> 00:24:19.299 my service to Christ would be undone. And I am a servant of Christ. 272 00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:26.289 Similarly, in First Thessalonians too, for he says, but just as 273 00:24:26.369 --> 00:24:30.089 we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we 274 00:24:30.289 --> 00:24:34.769 speak not to please men but to please God, who tests our hearts. 275 00:24:36.369 --> 00:24:40.039 And that last part is important for those of us who struggle with people pleasing 276 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:48.200 to remember Paul knows that God knows the manipulating, the shifting, the changing, 277 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:51.200 the trying to make sure that you're always in the right place so that 278 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:56.349 another person is happy with you and esteems you. You can't cover your hearts 279 00:24:56.750 --> 00:25:03.829 before the Lord. God knows, and Paul with his heart honest before the 280 00:25:03.990 --> 00:25:07.980 Lord. It acts in service to the Lord. And so when he says 281 00:25:08.019 --> 00:25:11.500 in verse thirty three, I try to please everyone and everything I do, 282 00:25:14.099 --> 00:25:18.859 he's not being a people pleaser. In fact he's undermining it. He's saying 283 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:22.849 we ought to be willing to accommodate ourselves for others, but it's not for 284 00:25:22.930 --> 00:25:30.369 our own advantage, it's for their advantage. And with honor and service to 285 00:25:30.490 --> 00:25:34.130 the Lord, when we consider our freedom in Christ, when we consider the 286 00:25:34.210 --> 00:25:37.400 way that we can love and serve others, it's not to take that love 287 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:44.119 and manipulate it, to serve ourselves, it's to truly give it and to 288 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:49.710 give it freely. The second reason we know Paul is not commending to us 289 00:25:49.710 --> 00:25:56.109 this people pleasing is that he tells us that when he tries to accommodate himself, 290 00:25:56.150 --> 00:26:00.950 he's willing to give up his rights, and it's not because he fears 291 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:06.900 men, but because he wants to save men. And people pleasing is ultimately 292 00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:11.059 about fearing others above anything else. But the fear of others, the Scripture 293 00:26:11.059 --> 00:26:15.099 says, is like a snare. Proverb says this. The fear of Man 294 00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:22.329 is a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord is safe. Paul 295 00:26:22.569 --> 00:26:26.369 does what he does. Why? Not to serve himself, and not because 296 00:26:26.369 --> 00:26:30.970 he fears man, but because he loves mankind. He wants to save other 297 00:26:32.130 --> 00:26:37.480 people. To put it this way, Paul's God is not the approval of 298 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:42.960 others. He serves God in order to serve others. What he does, 299 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:47.470 what he gives up, the rights he let us go, he does so 300 00:26:47.670 --> 00:26:52.230 willingly. As to the Lord, it's not a love for himself, but 301 00:26:52.309 --> 00:26:56.309 it's out of pity for these other people that he becomes weak in your weakness, 302 00:26:56.829 --> 00:27:00.150 that he gives up his rights, that he loves them as he's called 303 00:27:00.269 --> 00:27:06.220 to do. And so, my brothers and sisters, if you are struggling 304 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:11.220 or you struggle with being a people pleaser, Paul says, follow my example. 305 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:15.210 Yes, give yourself to others, yes, accommodate yourself to their needs, 306 00:27:15.250 --> 00:27:18.970 yes, give up your own rights for the sake of other people. 307 00:27:19.809 --> 00:27:26.890 But use that skill of service not for yourself and not for the idolatrous fear 308 00:27:26.930 --> 00:27:32.559 of Man, but for the Lord and for the true love of other people. 309 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:37.200 And sometimes that may mean making other people unhappy. Sometimes that may mean 310 00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:41.039 giving up your rights for another person. That makes another person upset with you. 311 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:45.549 This happened to Paul as well. If our goal, however, is 312 00:27:45.869 --> 00:27:49.069 if our goal is to make everyone happy, will feel like it's a no 313 00:27:49.190 --> 00:27:55.230 win situation, and it is, because it's an idol. But if our 314 00:27:55.309 --> 00:28:00.460 goal is to please the Lord, as he has served US already in Christ, 315 00:28:00.420 --> 00:28:04.380 the Lord Honors this and blesses this and helps us to grow and he 316 00:28:04.579 --> 00:28:11.339 uses those acts of service that accommodation and that love to draw other people to 317 00:28:11.380 --> 00:28:17.170 him and to show mine in the Gospel. So that's the first idol. 318 00:28:17.210 --> 00:28:22.130 I'll say that they that the work of the Lord in Christ undoes. The 319 00:28:22.289 --> 00:28:26.640 second one is that of selfishness, and really it's two sides of the same 320 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:30.720 coin. I want to speak to those of you who struggle, not with 321 00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:36.880 people pleasing, but distraught, but perhaps struggle to do anything for anyone at 322 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:41.950 all. Like people pleasers, you also do what you do in service to 323 00:28:41.029 --> 00:28:48.269 yourself. Your selfishness is just more obvious. The selfishness says, I don't 324 00:28:48.269 --> 00:28:51.950 want to give up my rights. The selfishness says I want what I want 325 00:28:52.069 --> 00:28:56.180 and I want it now. It's obvious. It's plain that you are not 326 00:28:56.900 --> 00:29:02.700 seeking the advantage of other people. Of course, that doesn't make it any 327 00:29:02.740 --> 00:29:07.019 better. Does the one who sins openly and honestly and in a selfishness do 328 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:12.130 better than the one who hides it away and covers it in lies? Neither 329 00:29:12.490 --> 00:29:19.690 does well. Neither is ultimately concerned about the welfare of other people. But 330 00:29:19.890 --> 00:29:26.799 some of us this selfishness really holds fast on our hearts. Some of US 331 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:33.079 would rather die than give up our rights or even our preferences for another person. 332 00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:40.150 We think as some sort of great cosmic injustice if we don't get to 333 00:29:40.789 --> 00:29:45.150 go first in line, if we don't get the particular kind of food we 334 00:29:45.309 --> 00:29:49.950 want in the shape that we want it at the time that we want it, 335 00:29:51.750 --> 00:29:55.859 we think that all things will fall apart, or at least should fall 336 00:29:55.900 --> 00:30:00.460 apart, and we are happy to let other people know about it. We 337 00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:08.250 are like Gods, unto ourselves over the smallest of things, demanding, pushing 338 00:30:08.529 --> 00:30:18.690 discontent in nearly everything. Brothers and sisters, this is just another form of 339 00:30:18.849 --> 00:30:22.799 pride, isn't it? Like the pride we mentioned before, this one will 340 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:30.759 also kill you. I know of people who have gone this way and gone 341 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:37.190 and pressed and pushed and pushed, who sacrificed their family and their money and 342 00:30:37.349 --> 00:30:42.470 their home and their health and their lives to get what they want, refusing 343 00:30:42.589 --> 00:30:48.630 to bend, refusing to listen, refusing to accommodate and wanting only what they 344 00:30:48.670 --> 00:30:57.099 want, and it literally leads them to death. It will put you in 345 00:30:57.460 --> 00:31:06.289 situations that are very, very, very dark, and hope and and hopefully, 346 00:31:06.329 --> 00:31:11.369 I pray, not unto even eternal judgment itself, when we take the 347 00:31:11.490 --> 00:31:17.369 gifts of God that he is given to us, even some freedoms that he 348 00:31:17.529 --> 00:31:21.759 is given to him given to us, and we make them more precious to 349 00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:26.559 us than even God himself. We take a benefit from God and we turn 350 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:33.430 it into an idol. We dethrone him in our hearts as those who refuse 351 00:31:33.589 --> 00:31:38.829 to follow him, and we will receive if this is our way of life, 352 00:31:38.829 --> 00:31:42.230 if this is who we are, if we are not united to Christ, 353 00:31:42.309 --> 00:31:47.819 but enslave to one of these idols, we will find that the wages 354 00:31:47.940 --> 00:31:53.980 for our sin is death. But to you Christians, let me ask you, 355 00:31:56.500 --> 00:32:00.690 is this the way that you learned in Christ? Of course, is 356 00:32:00.769 --> 00:32:07.450 this slavery to Sin, the freedom that we have in him? Of course, 357 00:32:08.569 --> 00:32:15.400 is this kind of idolatry and imitation of Paul. Know. So, 358 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:22.039 seeing the Great Love of God in Christ, seeing the true slavery that is 359 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:28.079 bound up in these different kind of idolatries, seeing eternal life as freedom in 360 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:32.670 its highest form. And then we look at Paul and we see a man 361 00:32:32.750 --> 00:32:37.589 who is willing to give up really anything in this world, even is his 362 00:32:37.710 --> 00:32:43.029 own life, for the sake of having those things. And I hope it 363 00:32:43.190 --> 00:32:46.579 begins to make some sense to you, that is, you evaluate those things, 364 00:32:46.660 --> 00:32:52.900 as you evaluate little things in this life, even our own temporal lives, 365 00:32:52.380 --> 00:33:00.089 in light of the eternal life that we have in Christ. I hope 366 00:33:00.170 --> 00:33:06.130 that you begin to make sense of the way that Paul Acts, the way 367 00:33:06.130 --> 00:33:08.450 your teacher is demonstrating for you, and then you can begin to say, 368 00:33:09.250 --> 00:33:14.240 okay, I see how I can imitate this. I see how I can 369 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:19.119 give up the things in my life, my comfort's, my my certain freedoms 370 00:33:19.160 --> 00:33:22.359 and certain my certain rights, for the benefit of loving others and helping them 371 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:29.630 to see the love that God has given to me. Focusing on our teacher, 372 00:33:29.829 --> 00:33:34.309 Paul for a moment, here his words and Philippians three eight, when 373 00:33:34.309 --> 00:33:40.740 he says this. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing 374 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:46.779 worth of knowing Christ, Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have 375 00:33:46.940 --> 00:33:52.380 suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I 376 00:33:52.619 --> 00:34:00.049 may gain Christ love it. There is nothing in this life that is worth 377 00:34:00.210 --> 00:34:09.000 protecting, that surpasses knowing Jesus Christ and having eternal life in him. So 378 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:14.280 if you struggle with the love of man over the love of God, if 379 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:19.239 you struggle with the fear of man over the fear of God, whether that's 380 00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:27.789 other people or even yourself. Remember Paul's words here, remember Paul's example and, 381 00:34:27.989 --> 00:34:32.949 most importantly, remember Paul's Lord. To Him who loves US, the 382 00:34:34.070 --> 00:34:38.099 Apostle John writes, and revelation one. To Him who loves US and has 383 00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:45.659 freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom of priests, 384 00:34:45.900 --> 00:34:50.940 to his God and father. To him be glory and dominion forever and 385 00:34:51.139 --> 00:34:57.610 ever. That one is Jesus Christ. He is our great king, he 386 00:34:57.849 --> 00:35:02.329 is our surpassing worth. He is the one who gives to us a great 387 00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:10.920 inheritance, a heavenly kingdom. So leave aside the foolish idols, leave aside 388 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:15.719 the false gods, the sinful appetites, leave aside your your selfishness and your 389 00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:21.239 pride and your fear of Man, your demanding flesh, and let him be 390 00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:30.789 your king who gives to you freely the eternal gift of God, Eternal Life 391 00:35:30.789 --> 00:35:36.500 in Christ, Jesus our Lord. Praise God. Let's pray to him. 392 00:35:37.019 --> Lord