 So before we begin with someone open us in prayer, please, let's do Dear heavenly father, we thank you Lord We come before you in the name of Jesus by the God We thank you for this first day of the week by the God We thank you Lord for this session that you are going to have on Corinthians by the God Even as we have gathered here to study your word for the God to meditate on your word for the God help us God give us understanding Lord God that we may understand your word for the God and that That we may be used in your kingdom for the God Lord help us for the God to grasp every word that comes forth from your servant Mouth or Lord for the God Holy Spirit we pray for the God to please Anoint our dear pastor. She will be teaching us the word use her For the expansion of your kingdom for the God help us let our minds and hearts Be here for the God and not to be distracted from anything Father God, we thank you Lord for doing this for us in Jesus mighty name we pray in Okay, so We'll do a quick recap like we always do of what we did last week and then Move into chapter eight We started a bit of chapter eight last week. Yeah, we just read from the beginning again today Would anyone like to do a recap for us Last week's contents last week We just look at Last week we covered So I think we already started Before and we just continued chapter seven Where we saw above that single necessary gift from God before and I liked how we said we should act according to the gift that has been given to us Sometimes we look at others and we think we should also do the same But it's actually not that should act according to what gift has been given to us we should act and we saw the two instances where divorce is Is a load actually so if somebody governments adultery Divorce is accepted and there is an abandonment divorce is actually accepted and Yeah, we also saw the difference but in what is the difference between being sanctified versus being saved and Okay, and I think the main thing was to live as how we were called what's the gift Kindles and fall these are all differentiating the spiritual and physical state of the person and some verses and I also liked how we stated we should not be concerned about the spiritual thing I'm sorry physical things most of the time, but we should be more constant about how our spiritual state is in what relationship we are with Christ And we saw about being bought at a price how much it was used two times over in this chapter and How we should be fully loyal to Christ we should never be a slave to someone else and Then we also saw How to be content wherever we are We should not keep constantly changing and then we started I believe this chapter ends this section of sexual immorality his teaching on sexual Immorality, I think this chapter is it and then we are going to move into the Yeah, yeah, and then we moved into chapter eight where it talks about idol worship We saw how knowledge pops up, but I love a device and Even in revelation the book of Revelation we see knowledge will be faced, but there will be a lack of Love so Everyone's end goal is to love God and everyone around us more Yeah, and we saw that Rather us knowing things God actually knows a lot about us that there are snowing about him God actually Noses we saw that in verse three, but if anyone loves God this one is known by him And you just you have this dressing on how much God knows us and I think that's very So Yeah, so we finished this section on On sexual immorality and generally what are the boundaries for? Sex and how we can protect that and now all means into the section on Eating foods or photo idols so We saw in the beginning verse one it says now concerning things of photo idols so it seems like Paul already had a list of things that he wanted to address in this letter. So it was based on the Corinthian response to him from the first letter he had sent or Or from reports that had come in But it seems like these were the questions that the church was asking that he was responding to it based on Based on the questions that he had received and so he goes into this next section on I do worship so From chapters eight to ten he'll He'll talk about idol worship in between. He'll talk about his own life as an example And then again, he'll go back to ideal worship not ideal worship. Sorry eating food It's a photo idols in chapter 10 So Yes, these first three verses He's basically talking about one group of people who Feel that they know a lot and so in their knowledge they They think it's okay to eat food or photo idols and there's no problem with it because idols are not gods after all and So he is mainly addressing this group of people To tell them that knowledge isn't everything so knowledge without love Will actually cause harm to the body of Christ But love is more important. In fact, he Elevates love about above knowledge and so We look at how he does that in the following verses So we'll continue from verse four If someone can read verses four to six Verse four So then about eating food sacrifice to idols We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one for even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth as Indeed, there are many gods and many laws Yet for us, there is but one God the father from whom all things came and for whom we live And there is but one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things came and through whom we live Thank you, so in verse four He says so when giving us this basic Understanding that love is what we are after we are not seeking only knowledge He then goes on to say therefore This is how we will look at eating food offer to idols from this perspective And then he says we know so if we're only going by knowledge We know that there is no power in an idol that an idol is just a physical object that Cannot speak it cannot do anything. It's just something That is an object that people have given reverence to And we know that there is no other God, but the God we worship no other God but one Verse five for even if there are so-called gods, so there are There are gods that people worship, right? Even if we don't believe we say there is one word there are other people who have gods that they worship and These gods Whether in heaven and on earth there are many gods and lots that are worshipped by other people So they call them God and they call them Lord, but for us there is one God and so we see here a little Theology also included in this verse six There is one God and then in that one God is the father and the son Hey, the father of home are all things And we for him so the father who is the source of all that exists and is the purpose for which we exist and One Lord Jesus so when he's saying Lord Jesus Christ doesn't mean that Jesus is Not God, right? He's saying one Lord the father and one Lord Jesus Christ The word Lord here refers to someone who is supreme in authority who is a master or owner or possessor of things and so He's using a different word, but that word Is a word for God? So one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things and through whom we live so that Rule of Jesus in creation being the one through whom creation was made and through whom Creation continues to be sustained is seen in various verses in the New Testament so We can look at some of these if someone can read John 1 3 to 4 To him all things were made without him. Nothing was made that was being made in him was life And that life was the light of all mankind Thank you and collusions 1 16 to 17 someone For in him all things were created things in heaven and on earth Visible and invisible whether thrones or powers or wills Or authorities all things have been created through him and for him He is before all things and in him all things hold together Thank you And then I'll just read from Hebrews 1 2 and 3 says Through whom also he made the universe the sun is the radiance of God's glory And the exact representation of his being sustaining all things by his powerful word So Paul is Saying what has been said In the New Testament first in John and then Hebrews is a later book Colossians as well. So all of these books talk about Jesus as being Uh being the means through which creation Was brought into existence and the one who sustains us who gives us life so Paul brings these things as a contrast to an idea, right? So an idea is not living and cannot Enable anyone to live or cannot bring things into existence But we worship The god who is creator god who is alive God who in whom is life and who sustains life and so For those who had that kind of knowledge who knew The power of god the father and jesus christ For them it made sense to eat food or for two items because What are ideals and comparisons to this god, right? They are nothing so there is no Need for us to worry about what is given to them There's no need for us to even think about it. We can just eat it as something that god has given us Uh, but let's go on in this chapter and see what else Paul says versus seven and eight if someone can read that But not everyone possesses this knowledge Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food They think of it as having been sacrificed to a god and since their conscience is weak It is defiled But food does not bring us near to god We are no worse if we do not eat and know better if we do All right So So he's contrasting these people who are taking pride in their knowledge with another group of people Who do not have such knowledge? and these likely were new believers or believers who had come out of a Uh from Religions or practices where there was worship right because there was so many genital believers Who had come into the church? So they came from a background of idol worship and they had given up their ideas to follow Jesus But many of their friends and family members would still be Would still have been continuing to worship ideas So if they were having family events if they were meeting with business associates of There were usually people who if they did the same kind of work They would form guilds right and so these guilds would have meetings and All those things would take place within the temple Hall and in this hall was where food was offered And this was this would also have food that had been offered to the idols So they would find themselves in these situations because they had come from that background And they were continuing to associate with their family and friends and People in their guild And so they had to face this question in a very young way Compared to say a jewish Christian now someone would come from a jewish background They didn't have that kind of social pressure In the way that the genital believers had So these genital believers Paul is saying that they still thought of ideas as gods not all of them But some of them still thought of ideas as gods because They had been So recently worshipers of idols and they just come out of this they still have not developed in their understanding of god They have not moved so far from that experience that idols are nothing to them now and so for these people if they If they are viewing ideas as god then If you are eating it then It it affects them. We will look at how it affects them So he's saying If we know that food will not draw us closer to god or will not keep us away from god but for For people who consider an idol is god They would view that food that was offered to ideas if you partake in it that it was a way of honoring The idea honoring that god was viewed that that god was present with you in that name and so when Uh When you're eating Food offered to ideas That's what they would understand when they saw you that you are honoring that god And that you are inviting that god into that name that you have it But for those who were mature were more mature or from a jewish background This would not be something that they Uh That they even thought about or worried about especially the jews One was some of them would even carry their own food when they went into a temple made So that they would not partake of The meat that was offered of course that would also Cause offense to the person who was who had invited them But that was one way they dealt with it on the other hand. They didn't have to Deal with it as much as the gentle believers And also here we see a distinction between the rich and the poor so the rich had a lot of access to meat It was part of their daily diet on the other hand the poor didn't have such access And where they would most see meat is in the temple premises because the temple during festivals would Give it up free to Two people who came to the temple. So that is where they would have actually been having most of their meat before they were believers So again meat for them was associated with ideas So with that background of the distinction between the jewish believers the gentle believers the rich the poor all of that It was their backgrounds that was informing how they were viewing the food they were eating And how they were treating food offered to ideas We go on through that verses nine to thirteen First is nine to thirteen But beware least somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling a stumbling block to those who are weak For if anyone sees you who has knowledge eating in An idols temple will not the conscience of him who is weak be Involved in bolded to eat those things offered to idols And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom christ died But when you do sin against the brethren and wound their weakness They're weak conscience You're you've seen against christ therefore if god makes my brother's temple. I will never again eat meat least I make My brother's tumble Thank you So here yeah verse 13 is therefore if food makes my brother's tumble so um, that kind of provides the Uh somebody of what he's saying now food is something that is of such low value in comparison to Our eternal life in christ right so if food is a guidance to someone's eternity to their Being with christ Then I would rather give up meat completely so that So that my brother in christ so a fellow believer would be able to Walk faithfully with god So we looked earlier at two scenarios in which people would come across food offered to idols One was in the temple premises uh, you know near temples where Meat was sacrificed and then was given to the people in the temple who had come for the Sacrifice will come for that Festival or people who were around there at the other place we would see this meat was in the marketplace so Here he's addressing that first First scenario where you would see it in the temple so Verse nine he says less somehow Beware less somehow this liberty of yours Becomes a stumbling block block to those who are weak So these people like we saw earlier with the issues in sexual immorality There was a lot of pride right because they were boasting in their spiritual freedom Uh that they had in the same way here This was an issue of pride where they were boasting of their liberty that we Can we can exercise our freedom in this way? By eating food offered by this we don't have to be afraid of it. So There was a pride associated with it But he says in verse 10 if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating In the temple. So this is that first scenario Will not their conscience, which is weak Be encouraged to also participate in what you are doing. So they see you eating in the temple They see you honoring this god and participating in What is Part of the worship, right? They had worship the idol they had given that food and From that worship the food has been taken and is being shared. So you are participating in that worship So for those who consider these ideas as gods And seeing you honoring that god and participating in that worship Would they also not think It's okay. It's okay to participate in the worship. It's okay to honor that god By taking part in the main Verse 11 Because of your knowledge The weak believer is going to die So they are committing a sin because they they think it's okay to show reverence to another god or to Participate in worship to another god and they do it with that thinking in their mind You might not be doing it with that thinking, but that's how they are approaching it And so you are leading them astray or leading them into sin And when you do that you are actually sinning against christ himself Okay, so christ died for their salvation, but you are leading them back to death and uh, you are then You are sinning against not only them, but also against christ So then we go back to verse 13 of I'd rather give up meat altogether Then let that be a cause for somebody else falling into sin So with that we'll go into chapter nine where it looks like Paul is actually going into a different topic altogether But chapter nine actually he's using his own life as an example for what he's sharing in chapter eight So when he's talking in chapter eight about Making the sacrifice for the sake of other believers He then talks about his own life and how it reflects That kind of sacrifice and then he'll go back to how does it then how can we take this and apply to allies in chapter 10? um, so Uh, some things that we'll see Paul talk about here in chapter nine is uh specifically about what uh His role as an apostle. So there were some people who questioned his apostleship um Based on the fact that he was not one of the original 12. Uh, there were other people who didn't Uh, give him the honor due to church leaders like we had discussed because he was a manual laborer So because he was not following what was considered as the um accepted form of work for a philosopher or a thinker Or the wise people of that day So some of the church members didn't give him that uh Didn't accept him fully as a church leader as a teacher. And so Paul is talking to those people in this chapter Uh, before we go into the chapter, we look at what does it mean to be an apostle? I'm sure All of us are aware of What it means to be an apostle. So the greek word means uh Literally it means to be someone who is sent So someone who is sent to represent another person To act on their behalf And to carry out Mission for the person who has sent them. So they've sent them with a purpose to carry out a specific uh task and so The apostles were people who were sent by god to carry out the mission of christ Uh We see three categories of apostles in the new testament Okay, so uh revelation 21 14 talks about the 12 apostles who are The 12 who followed christ. So we had the 11 and then the 12th one was picked to replace Judas um And the criteria for those 12 apostles is in acts 121 to 22 Uh, maybe we can just look at that quickly. Someone can read acts 121 to 22 It is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time The lord jesus was living among us Beginning from john's baptism to the time when jesus was taken up from us For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection Thank you Uh, we see that that was the criteria for the first 12 apostles somebody who had been with christ in his ministry Right from his baptism by john to his final Ascension to the father Okay, um, so that Those 12 apostles cannot be added to or removed from they were already fixed group of people That were called uh the apostles Uh, then there is another group of people called the founding apostles if we can look at Ephesians 220 and Ephesians 3 1 to 5 Ephesians 220 Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with christ jesus himself as the chief connoisseur Thank you and uh chapter three versus one to five For this reason i call the prisoner of christ jesus for the sake of you Gentiles Surely you have heard about the administration of god's grace that was given to me for you That is the mystery made known to me by revelation as i have already written briefly In reading this then you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of christ Which was not made known to people in in other generations As it has now been revealed by the spirit to god's holy apostles and prophets So this was a second group of apostles about from the first 12 Were the founding apostles and these apostles were The ones who brought teaching to the church who brought the revelation of jesus christ and what What all was available to the church and two people who received christ They brought that revelation to the church and so This was another set of apostles And paul was one of the founding apostles like we just read in Ephesians 3 And then the third category is The apostles who are so by the ministry gift that they have received So that is in our present day People who have the gift of apostleship Who've given who've been given the gift to minister to the church today to build the church and equip the church and Prepare the church for christ's return We can look at that Ephesians 4 11 to 12 So christ himself gave the apostles the prophets the evangelists the pastors and teachers To equip his people for works of service So that the body of christ may be built up until we all Reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of god and become matured attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of christ So this is a third group of apostles who are present in our church at present right in the present day church um So apart from the apostles as in this category being people who are sent We are all sent as ministers of god So we all carry out this function of apostleship Which is to be people who are sent by god to carry out his work and his mission Uh, so when we look in this chapter paul talks about his apostleship. He doesn't refer to uh his His encounter with god in the road to Damascus or he doesn't refer to the revelations he's received Or the journeys he's made to take the gospel to many places He doesn't talk about his preaching. He doesn't talk about churches. He's raised up or the epistles. He's written um He will talk about these things later But in this part he talks more from the perspective of someone who is a servant of christ And who has uh given their life over they've sacrificed Everything in order to serve christ So we look at his sacrifice his stewardship his serving his self discipline Uh things that he did as an apostle Uh because he was an apostle to fulfill the mission that god had entrusted to him Uh, and so taking from his life We can take a lot of truth into how do we then minister? How do we uh adopt this? uh This attitude or this posture of being a servant Of sacrificing of stewarding all that god has given us Uh to serve the people god has uh entrusted to us So we look at verses one um, so one to fifteen it's a A little long let's see if we can break that up Okay, maybe we'll just read the whole passage one to fifteen and then after the break we'll come back and talk about it So someone in read verses one to fifteen First Corinthians chapter nine verses one to fifteen Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our lord? Are you not the result of my work in the lord? Even though I may not be an apostle to others Surely I am to you for you are the seal of my apostleship in the lord This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me Don't we have the right to food and drink? Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us as to the other apostles and the lord's brothers and Cephas Or is it only I and one of us who lack the right to not work for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its graves? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn't the law say the same thing for it is written in the law of moses? Do not muzzle an ox while it is trading out the brain Is is it about oxen that god is concerned? Surely he says this for us doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us because whoever plows and threshes should be Able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest If we have sown spiritual seed among you Is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more? But we did not use this right On the contrary, we put up with anything rather hinder the gospel of Christ Don't you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple And that those who serve at the altar share in with what is offered on the altar In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel But I have not used any of these rights And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me For I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast Thank you So we have a few minutes, so we need a look at a few verses So He who is the owner of the gospel first starts off with, am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? So how is this connected to what he was saying in chapter 8? He's saying, am I not an apostle? Isn't it that I have the authority and the power that is enjoyed by apostles? Am I not free? That is, is my service not free of any evil, right? Everything I'm doing is pure and is being offered with that purity. Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? So I have a great revelation of who Jesus is, right? So I'm as good as the apostles who encountered Christ. I've also had an encounter with Christ. Are you not my work in the Lord? So the fact that you as a church are in existence is because of the work that I did. So I brought the gospel and I ministered to you all and have continued to build your love as a church. And so you are this, the church that exists is the proof of the work that I did. Verse 2, if I'm not an apostle to others, at least to you I am, right? So even if other people don't see me as an apostle, to you I am because the fruit of the work that is the fact that you exist as a church and all that is being seen in you as a church, so the gifts of the spirit, all of that that is being seen in you is evidence of the work that I did and is evidence that I'm an apostle of Christ. So what is seen, the fruit that is seen is evidence of my role or my position in Christ, what God has entrusted to me. So here he's saying, he's kind of putting himself in a position of authority. The truth is that he does have a lot of authority. He does have a lot of power. He has great revelation of Christ and there is great fruit for what he has done in the church. But this is not what he's going to depend on and he's not going to demand things of the church based on these things, based on the fact that he has the authority of an apostle on that position of an apostle, not based on the fact that he's received revelation of Jesus and so he can demand that the church be obedient to him or listen to what he has to say and not based on the fact that they are enjoying the benefit of knowing Christ and being part of a church because of his work. So all of these things are very good basis for him to make demands from them. We see that so often unfortunately among even church leaders where there is a lot of expectation of things that they should receive from people who are in the church or people who are following them in his streets. They have put in a pedestal. They have a place with power and authority and so they use that for their own benefit. On the other hand we see Paul saying I don't choose to do that and this is why I don't choose to do it. He'll go on in the rest of the chapter. So okay we have one other minute so we'll just take a break and we'll go continue from verse three when we come back in ten minutes. Thank you.