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Let the Little Children Come to Me and Do not Hinder Them | When a Child Is Taken to Heaven - Part I

In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” I preached this sermon to my congregation after a young man in our church tragically drowned days earlier. I wanted to bring scripture to bear on the situation, which meant looking at the accounts in the Bible of people losing children. This is Part I, and here is Part II: Do not Grieve as Those Who Have no Hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them.” I preached this sermon after a young man in our church drowned.Receive a FREE copy of Pastor Scott LaPierre’s book,  Seven Biblical Insights for Healthy, Joyful, Christ-Centered Marriages .View all Pastor Scott’s books on my Amazon author page.Visit Scott LaPierre’s speaking page for conference and speaking information, including testimonies, endorsements, and contact info.Table of ContentsSermon Lessons for Let the Little Children Come to Me and Do not Hinder ThemFamily Worship Guide for Let the Little Children Come to Me and Do not Hinder ThemSermon Notes for Let the Little Children Come to Me and Do not Hinder ThemLesson 1: it’s okay to be upset.Lesson 2: God isn’t punishing you.Lesson 3: Jesus takes believing children in his arms.Lesson 4: Jesus will raise believing children.Lesson 5: go to the Lord with your loss.Lesson 6: you can be confused.Lesson 7: death reminds us life is temporary.Sermon Lessons for Let the Little Children Come to Me and Do not Hinder ThemLesson 1: It’s okay to ____ __________ (1 Kings 17:18). Lesson 2: God isn’t __________________ ______ (1 Kings 17:18). Lesson 3: Jesus takes believing children ____ ______ ________ (1 Kings 17:19 cf. Mark 9:36, 10:16). Lesson 4: Jesus ________ __________ believing children (Rom 15:4; 1 Cor 10:6, 11 cf. 1 Kings 17:23). Lesson 5: Go ____ ______ ________ with your loss (2 Kings 4:22-27, Psa 34:18, 147:3). Lesson 6: You can ____ ________________ (2 Kings 4:28; Deut 29:29; 1 Cor 13:12) Lesson 7: Death reminds us ________ is __________________ (1 Cor 15:22, 26, 54-57; Rev 20:14).Family Worship Guide for Let the Little Children Come to Me and Do not Hinder ThemDay 1: Read 1 Kings 17:18-23, Mark 9:36, and 10:16, and discuss: Why is it OK to be upset? Even if we’re angry, what do we need to make sure we don’t do? What might we be tempted to think God is doing, that we need to convince ourselves He’s not doing? What did Jesus do during His earthly ministry that can be an encouragement to us if we lose a child? Day 2: Read 2 Kings 4:22-27, Psa 34:18, 147:3, Deut 29:29; and 1 Cor 13:12 and discuss: Where should we go when we experience loss and suffering? Where should we not know? Why is it OK to be confused? What other reasonable feelings might we experience? Are there unreasonable feelings we should try to avoid? Day 3: Read 1 Cor 15:22, 26, 54-57; Rev 20:14, and discuss: What have you seen God bring forth from your suffering and trials? Why do unborn children in the womb die? Why is Death capitalized in 1 Corinthians 15, in other words why is Death personified? Explain the victory Paul mentions in the verses.Sermon Notes for Let the Little Children Come to Me and Do not Hinder Them

Please open your Bibles to 1 Kings 17.

After the events of this past week, I didn’t feel like I could preach the sermon that I had prepared on wisdom.

I wanted to bring scripture to bear on the situation, which means looking at the accounts of people losing children. It occurs in scripture more often than you might expect, and I believe it’s because it occurs in our lives more often than we might expect. We live in a fallen world, and this is one of the worst realities of it.

Many of us have experienced miscarriages and I hope these sermons will encourage you too…but with that said, while miscarriages are difficult and I don’t want to seem insensitive to people who have experienced them – especially late in pregnancy – I don’t think they compare with the loss of a child that has been born.

One other reason this sermon is important is even if you’re fortunate enough to never lose a child, as a member of the body of Christ, you need to know how to minister to people who have.

We know how much the Raleys have been through, so I did ask them if they thought these sermons would be too personal for them, but they said they thought they’d be good for them and the congregation.

This sermon is going to be different in that instead of being expositional, it’s going to be more devotional. I didn’t think that this was the best time to have a deeply theological or academic sermon with you feeling like I’m preaching at you. Instead I hope you feel like I’m talking with you.

This is the first sermon I’ve ever preached that I didn’t look at any commentaries. I wanted to do my best to share what God gave me to share, versus something I gained from someone else.

Let’s begin with 1 Kings 17…

1 Kings 17:17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”

This woman just lost her son, and we can learn from how she felt…and this brings us to lesson one…

Lesson 1: it’s okay to be upset.

I’ve told you before that the bible contains imperatives – or commands – and indicatives – or statements. The imperatives are prescriptive and the indicatives are descriptive.

The descriptive accounts often tell us how people are feeling so we can identify w/ them. They will be upset, angry, depressed, sad, emotional. You see this especially in the Psalms.

This is one such account.

The verses don’t indicate why the child died, and in most of the other accounts we’ll look at we also don’t learn why the child died. So that’s not the point.

The point is that we get to see how this woman felt. She was upset and God is showing us that through these verses so any parents in her situation can identify with her.

If there’s one time in all of life that people are going to be upset, angry, depressed, and emotional, it’s going to be when they lose a child.

We shouldn’t give ourselves over to these emotions and sin…but these feelings are normal…and it seems God wants us to know that through accounts like this.

Lesson 2: God isn’t punishing you.

She mentions her sin and seems to think that’s the cause. But God wasn’t upset with her. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

Losing a child is one of the worst things people can experience, and one of the only things that can make it worse is when parents think God is punishing them.

God wasn’t punishing this woman, and parents who have lost children need to resist the temptation to think God is punishing them.

A close secondary temptation is for parents to punish themselves.

This mother wondered if it was her fault, but:

She shouldn’t be blaming herself.She had nothing to do with her child’s death.

She needed to do her best to convince herself of that truth.

The most common way people punish themselves is by playing through all the, “What-ifs…”

If a child was hit by a car the parents could be tempted to play through so many different scenarios:

What if we had done this…What if we hadn’t let him do this…What if we had been there…

This is a form of punishing ourselves, and again parents need to do their best to avoid this.

Look at verse 19…

1 Kings 17:19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.

One of the difficulties at times with scripture is figuring out tone. We must guess the way people said things.

I think Elijah said this very gently to the woman. He lived with her and her son for three years. He provided for them during the drought and the accompanying famine. They must have become close.

When he said, “Give me your son,” I’m sure he said it tenderly. Then he took the boy in his arms and carried him up.

And this brings us to lesson three…

Lesson 3: Jesus takes believing children in his arms.

If we want to know what Jesus is like in heaven we can look at Him on earth. I don’t see any reason to think He’d be different in heaven than He was on earth, especially since Heb 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

When we were at the hospital Wednesday night, on more than one occasion people said, “Brandan is in Jesus’ arms.” People said this to Jim and Kris to encourage them, and Jim and Kris said this to themselves to encourage themselves.

And I don’t think it’s a sentimental thought that we tell ourselves that has no backing in scripture.

When I share about Jesus taking up a child in His arms it’s more than a devotional thought, because the bible describes Him doing this:

Mark 9:36 [Jesus] took a child…and TAKING HIM IN HIS ARMS, he said to them,Mark 10:16 [Jesus] took [the children] IN HIS ARMS and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

If Jesus would take children up in his arms during His earthly life, why would we think he wouldn’t do the same thing in heaven?

So I love the language of this verse. I imagine Jesus saying, “Give me your son,” and He takes the child in His arms and carries him up into the upper chamber where he lodges.

If you ever lost a child, you might turn to this verse and read it and be encouraged.

Look at verse 20…

1 Kings 17:20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Obviously this account – and some of the others we’ll look at — break down at one of the most important points. This child was raised from the dead, but in our lives children aren’t raised from the dead. This needs to be addressed.

The New Testament states the Old Testament provides us with examples:

Romans 15:4 Whatever things were written [in the Old Testament] were written for our learning.1 Corinthians 10:6 These things [in the Old Testament] took place as examples for us…11 All these things happened [in the Old Testament] as examples

So it’s not a question of, “Do we learn from the Old Testament?” or “Are these examples for us?”

The question is: “What do we learn from the Old Testament, and how do these examples apply?”

The best way to understand this miracle, and the other miracles in scripture is this…

They are physical pictures of what God does for us spiritually.

Let me use Jesus’ ministry as an example:

When He healed blindness:That’s not supposed to make us think He wants to heal every blind person.But He wants to heal our spiritual blindness so we can spiritually see.When Jesus healed deafness:That’s not supposed to make us think He heals every deaf person.But He wants to heal our spiritual deafness so we can understand spiritual truths.When Jesus healed the paralytic:That’s not supposed to make us think He heals every paralyzed person.But He wants to heal our spiritual lameness so we can walk w/ God: Romans 6:4 just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we SHOULD WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.When Jesus raised people from the dead:That’s not supposed to make us think He’ll raise people the moment they die.But He has victory over sin and death, and He wants to give us eternal life.

There is spiritual application to these physical realities.

And this brings us to Lesson 4…

Lesson 4: Jesus will raise believing children.

Here’s what I would LOVE to be able to say to people who have lost children…

“God is going to raise your child from the dead this moment, just like Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus did w/ children who died.”

The problem is, that’s not true!

But here’s what is true…

If your child is a believer, God is going to raise that child from the dead to eternal life.

I don’t know many things that are much more encouraging than this…or many things that are more important for parents to keep in mind if they have lost children.

Turn to 2 Kings 4 for the next account…

2 Kings 4:18 When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died.

I can’t imagine how devastating this must have been.

2 Kings 4:21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out.

Lesson 5: go to the Lord with your loss.

I’m giving you this lesson early, because I want you to look for it.

As we read the verses, notice this woman’s persistency. She isn’t going to let anyone or anything stop her from going to the prophet Elisha.

When I read these verses I couldn’t help thinking that we should pursue the Lord w/ the same persistency if we lose a child.

Look at her example…

2 Kings 4:22 Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” 23 And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.”

She wouldn’t let her husband turn her away.

2 Kings 4:24 Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. 26 Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’” And she answered, “All is well.” 27a And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet.

She literally clung to him. She clung to him, like we need to cling to Christ.

2 Kings 4:27b And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

She wouldn’t be turned away, like we must not be turned away from Christ.

She knew she couldn’t get help anywhere else…not even from her husband. Yes, you need your spouse if you lose a child – maybe more than any other time – but there are things even your spouse can’t do for you.

Consider these verses…

Psalms 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Only the Lord can do this…no spouse, or pastor, or friend can.

Psalms 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

This is speaking of spiritual wounds.

Only the Lord can heal the brokenhearted and bind up the spiritual and emotional wounds they’re experiencing.

I don’t know if it sounds discouraging to think that we can’t do more for people, but this is actually freeing. It means we don’t have to feel responsible for trying to do something only the Lord can do.

But it should cause us to direct them to the Lord when we’re with them during their times of grieving, vs. giving them clichés and platitudes.

I’ve been with parents a few times when they lost children. If I had to use one word to describe how I felt, it’s helpless.

No matter how long I pastor, I tend to think this isn’t going to get any better.

I feel like the greatest help I can offer is directing people toward Christ.

I’m either sitting there quietly or I try to do one of two other things:

I pray with them, which is pointing them to Christ and praying that he will help them.I read scripture with them, which is nothing more than helping them find comfort in Him.

And I would say, if you’re ever wondering what you can do to help people who have lost a child, aside from simply being with them, praying with them and offering to read scripture to them are the best things you can do.

I would discourage you from trying to share about some loss you experienced.

Look at verse 28…

2 Kings 4:28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”

Lesson 6: you can be confused.

This is another verse that I think many parents who have lost children can probably identify with. You ask God, “Why did You give me a child if you were just going to take him or her from me?”

During our miscarriages, this is the question I had: “Why did Katie even get pregnant in the first place?”

Again, I don’t think this verse is here to tell us why we lose children.

I think it’s here so we can identify with this woman and her hurt and confusion…and understand that it’s normal to be hurt and confused.

Consider these two verses:

Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God.1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

These verses make the point that we don’t understand everything. We generally quote them regarding theological topics, for example God’s sovereignty versus man’s free will. We say…

“How can both be true? This secret belongs to the Lord. We can’t fully see how they’re both true. We only see dimly and in part.”

And I think this is a fitting use of these verses.

But another way they apply relates to God’s will. Things happen in our lives that we don’t understand. They’re confusing to us.

And I don’t think there are many things more confusing than children’s deaths.

So it’s okay to be confused and not have any answers.

The events of this past week were terribly tragic and confusing for two churches and hundreds of people.

When Pastor Nathan and I were driving to and from the hospital we were talking about the good God would bring from this. We didn’t know what the good would be, and to be candid with you, it seemed – and still seems – hard to find. But because of Romans 8:28 we know it’s there…

Romans 8:28 We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Even this verse communicates that the good is for believers. Everyone loves to quote the first half of the verse and say God works all things together for good but that’s not all it says. It says for those who are called according to his purpose, which refers to Christians.

This still leaves the same question: What is the good God is doing from this?

I think it’d be very arrogant of me to say that I know the answer, but I will say this…

Every death is a reminder that this life is temporary and not our home.

It’s good to be reminded of this…

Lesson 7: death reminds us life is temporary.

Every death is tragic, b/c we recognize it’s not the way things should be. We live in a fallen world, and this is one of the worst consequences.

But if there’s one good thing death does, it’s remind us that this life is temporary. It prevents us from getting too comfortable on this side of heaven, and it causes us to do what Pastor Nathan preached about the last two weeks: keep an eternal perspective.

The bad news is Death is the enemy we all face.

Let me show you the good news. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15:26…

1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

Death is an enemy that Christ defeats for us!

Listen to these wonderful verses…

1 Corinthians 15:54 So when this corruptible (referring to our earthly bodies) has put on incorruption (referring to the glorified bodies we’ll receive), and this mortal has put on immortality (referring to the eternal life we receive), then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O Death, where is your sting? (Death can no longer hurt us)
O Hades, where is your victory?” (Hades is another way to refer to death, and it has no victory over us)

57 But thanks be to God, who GIVES US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

In most Bibles, Death is capitalized, b/c God wants to personify it:

He wants it to seem like a person…He wants it to seem like an enemy that Jesus defeated…

To show just how clearly Death is defeated, Revelation 20:14 says Death [is] cast into the lake of fire.

You’ve got death going to hell!

That’s how confident God wants you to be regarding Death’s defeat and your victory over it!

Let me close with this…

Be comforted that Jesus has risen from the grave and that His death is the death of Death. It is eternal life. We can be thankful today for the God of comfort, who comforts, saves, and heals.

Let’s pray.

How Long You Simple Ones Will You Love Simplicity? (Proverbs 1:20-33) - Wisdom Calls Out

“How long you simple ones will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge?” This is the important question Solomon asked in Proverbs 1:22. Wisdom calls out, she is available. As Proverbs 1:20 says she “cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice.” People are fools when they fail to apply knowledge. If people reject Wisdom: 1. The judgment is severe 2. Wisdom rejects them, and 3. Wisdom turns them over to their sin. But if people embrace Wisdom, she gives them peace and security.

“How long you simple ones will you love simplicity?” The important question Solomon asked in Proverbs 1:22. Wisdom calls out, she’s available.Receive a FREE copy of Pastor Scott LaPierre’s book,  Seven Biblical Insights for Healthy, Joyful, Christ-Centered Marriages .View all Pastor Scott’s books on my Amazon author page.Visit Scott LaPierre’s speaking page for conference and speaking information, including testimonies, endorsements, and contact info.Table of ContentsSermon Lessons for How Long You Simple Ones Will You Love Simplicity? (Proverbs 1:20-33) – Wisdom Calls Out Sermon Notes for How Long You Simple Ones Will You Love Simplicity? (Proverbs 1:20-33) – Wisdom Calls OutLesson 1: God makes wisdom available.Lesson 2: fools don’t apply knowledge.Lesson 3: if people reject wisdom (part 1) judgment is severe.Lesson 3: if people reject wisdom (part 2) she rejects them.Lesson 3: if people reject wisdom (part 3) she turns them over to their sin.Lesson 4: if people embrace wisdom, she gives them security and peace.Sermon Lessons for How Long You Simple Ones Will You Love Simplicity? (Proverbs 1:20-33) – Wisdom Calls Out Lesson 1: ______ __________ wisdom available (Pro 1:20-21). Lesson 2: ________ ___________ apply knowledge (Pro 1:22-23, 29 cf. Pro 6:9, Exo 10:3). Lesson 3: If people reject wisdom:(Part I) Judgment is ____________ (Pro 1:24-27; Psa 2:4).(Part II) She _______________ them (Pro 1:28).(Part III) She turns them over to ___________ _______ (Pro 1:29-31; Jer 2:19; Rom 1:19-26). Lesson 4: If people ______________ _____________, she gives them security and peace (Pro 1:33; 1 Cor 1:24, 30; Matt 3:17). Family Worship Guide for How Long You Simple Ones Will You Love Simplicity? (Proverbs 1:20-33) – Wisdom Calls Out Day 1: Read Pro 1:20-23, Pro 6:9, Exo 10:3 and discuss: How is wisdom available? Why is Wisdom personified? What noise in our lives might drown out wisdom? What makes people simple or scoffers? Day 2: Read Pro 1:24-31; Psa 2:4, Jer 2:19; and discuss: What makes people fools? What does it mean that fools hate knowledge? Define wisdom. Define knowledge. Why is wisdom judged so severely? How does Wisdom punish those who reject her? Day 3: Read Rom 1:19-26 Pro 1:33; 1 Cor 1:24, 30; Matt 3:17) and discuss: What similarities does Pro 1 have with Romans 1? What does it mean that Jesus is the wisdom of God? How are the provers fulfilled in Jesus?Sermon Notes for How Long You Simple Ones Will You Love Simplicity? (Proverbs 1:20-33) – Wisdom Calls Out

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Proverbs 20.

Last Sunday’s sermon in Job 28 was titled, “Where Can Wisdom Be Found?”

You might remember Job had grown weary of his friends’ clichés and platitudes. He wanted real wisdom. He said:

Job 28:12 “But where shall wisdom be found?Job 28:20 “From where, then, does wisdom come?

Since Job was asking where to find wisdom, you might be quick to think it’s hard to find. But we’ll see this morning that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Look w/ me at Proverbs 1:20…

Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

Job asked where to find wisdom, but she clearly isn’t hiding…and this brings us to Lesson 1…

Lesson 1: God makes wisdom available.

The pronouns “she” and “her” reveal Wisdom is presented as a person.

By personifying wisdom, it seems like something – or someone – we must have a relationship with to be wise. This is fitting, b/c Wisdom complements the Father, and we must have a relationship w/ the Father to be wise.

Wisdom is not a separate being from the Father. Instead, Wisdom is the mind of God revealed. To hear Wisdom is to hear God.

In the above verses Wisdom calls out to people passing by. She cries aloud…raises her voice…cries out. She wants to be heard.

She’s in the street, in the markets…at the head of the streets…at the entrance of the city gates. She wants to be found. She’s in the most prominent places, appealing to us right where we live our daily lives.

All of this is meant to communicate Wisdom’s availability.

But there is something threatening our ability to hear Wisdom, and it’s contained in the words the noisy streets.

There’s a lot of noise that threatens to drown out Wisdom. These are all the things vying for our attention…and they can distract us from Wisdom.

We should ask ourselves: What threatens to drown out Wisdom in my life?

Is it movies?Is it news?Is it unprofitable books?Is it shallow conversations?Is it bad company, or unwise people?

We should think about what might prevent us from hearing Wisdom as she calls out to us.

She has a strong challenge for everyone. Look at verse 22…

Proverbs 1:22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?

When Scripture asks “How long” – which it asks twice in this verse – it implies something bad has been going on, and it’s going to get worse.

Think of Moses speaking to Pharaoh…

Exodus 10:3 says, “Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: ‘HOW LONG will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.’”

The longer Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go, the worse things became for him.

Proverbs 6:9 HOW LONG will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

The longer the sluggard slept, the worse things became for him.

In verse 22 the idea is the longer people go w/o wisdom, the worse things become for them…and why’s that?

The longer they go w/o wisdom, the longer they make bad decisions.

It’s as though Wisdom says, “How long will you reject me and keep hurting yourself?”

Three groups who have been without Wisdom are mentioned in the verse: simple ones, scoffers, and fools. It’s important to understand each group…

First, the simple ones.

I’ve shared some opposites in Scripture with you recently:

The opposite of foolish is wise.The opposite of ignorance is knowledgeable.

And this is another opposite…

The opposite of simple is prudent.

Prudence is what the simple need. Look at verse 4…

Proverbs 1:4 Give prudence to the simple

Also…

Proverbs 8:5 Simple ones, learn prudence

What does it mean to be prudent?

It means to know what to believe…therefore, to be simple means to NOT know what to believe…

Proverbs 14:15 The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.

The simple are gullible and easily led astray.

They don’t have a mental deficiency, but they are naïve.

Prudence will encourage them to give thought to their steps, which means they would be discerning and examine things.

If the simple respond to Wisdom they can become wise. But if they reject wisdom, they’re on their way to becoming scoffers and fools…which brings us to the second group…

The second group is scoffers. In Proverbs they’re also called scorners and mockers.

Here’s how you can think about the simple and scoffers…

If the simple have blank looks on their faces, scoffers have smirks and sneers on their faces. They’re smug.

Proverbs 21:24 “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.

Wisdom reaches out to scoffers, but they reject her. They scorn Wisdom b/c they’re arrogant and they think they know everything.

The third group is fools.

They don’t just mock or scoff at Wisdom, it says they downright hate knowledge.

Briefly look down at verse 29…

Proverbs 1:29 Because THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE…

It’s repeated twice so we don’t miss it. If you want a simple definition of fools you could say they’re people who hate knowledge.

To understand this, and to understand fools in general, we must understand the way the word hate is used in Scripture…

According to dictionary.com, “hate” means, “to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.”

But in Scripture, hate often has to do w/ choice. Whatever you reject, you hate…not literally, but in the sense that you didn’t choose it.

Let me give you two examples…

Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not HATE HIS OWN father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

We know Jesus isn’t literally telling us to hate our family members, b/c other places in Scripture command to care for our family members and if we don’t we’re worse than unbelievers.

So what does it mean?

It means we should choose Jesus even over our family members.

Romans 9:13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Did God hate Esau?

No. God blessed Esau.

But it says God hated him, b/c He chose Jacob over him.

So in Scripture, hate means to not choose.

Look at verse 29…

Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and DID NOT CHOOSE the fear of the Lord,

Fools hate knowledge in that they don’t choose it – or you could say they choose not to apply it – and this brings us to Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: fools don’t apply knowledge.

Let’s briefly define wisdom and foolishness…

Wisdom is the application of knowledge. Wise people apply the knowledge they have.

Wisdom is the ability to do what is morally and spiritually right, which means wisdom is moral…unlike knowledge which is amoral.

Since wisdom is moral, it’s always spoken of positively. Gaining more wisdom only benefits us. There’s no downside to it; it can only help us. It can’t puff us up like knowledge can.

If you briefly take your mind back to 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14, they’re chapters about knowledge. Paul wanted the Corinthians and Romans to use their knowledge to benefit others, and that’s what wisdom is. It’s applying knowledge, and using it in a moral, loving way.

A theme in Scripture is that fools are wise in their own eyes (Proverbs 3:7, 26:12, 12:15, Isa 5:21).

Why would fools think they’re wise?

Because of their knowledge.

Earlier I said the simple don’t have a mental deficiency. Fools also don’t have mental deficiencies:

Their problem isn’t a low IQ. They could be smart.Their problem isn’t a poor education. They could be educated.

So if their problem isn’t a lack of knowledge, a low IQ, or a poor education, what is it?

Their problem is a lack of desire. They lack the desire to obey and apply the knowledge they have.

If fools were ignorant it wouldn’t be so bad, but b/c they know their accountability is high.

Jam 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Fools live in this world of not doing what they know they should do.

So look what Wisdom says to them in verse 23…

Proverbs 1:23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

They must repent!

The words if you turn at my reproof mean if you repent at my rebuke.

Why is repentance the first thing Wisdom calls for?

Wisdom exposes our foolishness and sin, which requires our repentance.

If we’re going to grow in Wisdom, we must first repent of our foolishness and sin.

Think of how this happens…

Whenever we read Scripture we’re confronted w/:

Areas of our lives that need to changeSins and struggles we need to turn from

If we repent – or turn at Wisdom’s reproof – we can grow.

But if we:

Refuse b/c we’re being foolsScoff b/c we’re being mockers

We won’t grow in wisdom.

Look at how willing Wisdom is to help us grow…

She says I will pour out my Spirit – referring to the Holy Spirit – and make my words – or wisdom – known.

The Holy Spirit is mentioned b/c He enlightens our minds and illuminates the Scriptures, resulting in an understanding of wisdom.

In last Sunday’s sermon I said that wisdom is not natural…that’s why Job couldn’t find it anywhere in the natural world.

It’s also not natural in that we can’t gain it on our own. The Holy Spirit is needed.

We’re going to look at Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2 at a later time, but for now consider one verse…

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of THE SPIRIT OF GOD, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED.

To say they’re spiritually discerned is to say wisdom is supernatural and therefore – as verse 23 says – God’s spirit must be poured out on us to receive it, or make it known to us…

Ephesians 1:17 The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may GIVE YOU THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM and of revelation in the knowledge of him

If we reject Wisdom, look what she says in the next verse…

Proverbs 1:24 Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,

Wisdom repeatedly reached out. She has called [and] stretched out [her] hand. This looks to the many opportunities people have throughout their lives to receive wisdom.

But some people repeatedly reject her offer. They refuse to listen…[have not] heeded…ignored [her] counsel…would have none of [her] reproof, revealing their stubbornness and hard-heartedness.

As a result, look what Wisdom says in verse 26…

Proverbs 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Wisdom has been very gracious and inviting up to this point, but all that has ended. Now she discusses the suffering that comes to people who reject her…and this brings us to Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: if people reject wisdom (part 1) judgment is severe.

Notice Wisdom says I also. Wisdom does to people what they’ve done to her:

They laughed at her, so she laughs at themThey mocked her, so she mocks themThey scorned her, so she scorns them

This is how God responds elsewhere in Scripture when people reject Him…

Psalms 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed [but] 4 HE WHO SITS IN THE HEAVENS LAUGHS, THE LORD SCOFFS AT THEM (NASB).

Notice the strong, horrifying language in the verse: calamity, terror, terror, storm, calamity, whirlwind, distress, anguish.

These words should cause anyone to want to listen to Wisdom.

We might be troubled b/c Wisdom sounds cruel, but she’s trying to warn us about the consequence of rejecting her…which makes her words loving. She’s trying to produce repentance and create a healthy fear.

But if people won’t repent and fear…look at verse 28…

Proverbs 1:28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

This is more of Wisdom doing to people what they did to her. They wouldn’t listen to her, so she won’t listen to them…and this brings us to the next part of Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: if people reject wisdom (part 2) she rejects them.

Notice the context: they finally want Wisdom in verse 28, but it’s after they’re suffering as described in verses 26 and 27.

At this point she ignores them.

What does this look like in real life?

People sin, suffer, call out for help, but it’s too late. They must experience the consequences of their actions. They bring judgment on themselves, and Wisdom is no longer available to help.

The sad thing is people are finally ready to listen to Wisdom, but it’s AFTER they’ve sinned when it’s too late. There’s no undoing what they’ve done. All they can do is suffer the consequences.

How many times have you seen people sin, suffer, and suddenly they seem humble and they want to know what to do to undo what they did…how many times have we been like this?

But it’s too late then…Wisdom is no longer answering.

Some years ago – I believe it was during an Evening Service – we were talking about the consequences of sin, and someone said, “Scripture gives us wisdom to avoid getting ourselves into messes, but it doesn’t give us wisdom to get out of the messes we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

I thought this was an insightful and accurate comment…and it’s a good picture of this verse.

So let me say as lovingly as possible what this verse is saying…

We can sin, suffer, cry out for help, but the consequences won’t be taken away…or in other words, Wisdom will not answer.

Look at verse 29…

Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof

One of the themes in the last few sermons is that the fear of the Lord is associated w/ wisdom. For example, in last week’s sermon, after Job looked for wisdom, his conclusion was…

Job 28:28 Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.

Since the fear of the Lord is wisdom, when people reject wisdom, they’re rejecting God…which is why rejecting Wisdom is so serious.

Look at the way people are punished as a result…

Proverbs 1:31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

This is one of the many places in Scripture revealing one of the strongest ways people are judged…

They’re simply left alone and turned over to their sin. They’re allowed to have what they want…and this brings us to Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: if people reject wisdom (part 3) she turns them over to their sin.

They turned from wisdom, so Wisdom turned them over to what they wanted instead: their foolishness.

You’re looking at the very worst thing God can do to people in this life…

Abandon them to their sin and the consequences of it.

Notice the language of eating is used…

eat the fruit of their way…have their fill

When God really wants to punish sinners, He lets them reap what they’ve sown…or eat what they want…and that is their punishment.

Consider this verse…

When Jeremiah was a prophet it was a dark period in Judah’s history. God said to the people…

Jeremiah 2:19a Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you.

This is a powerful verse.

God wouldn’t even have to punish them. Their sins would cause them enough suffering.

Think about these accounts and how God punished people by letting them have what they wanted:

God told Balaam he could go w/ BalakGod told the 2.5 tribes they could settle on the east side of the JordanGod told Israel they could have an earthly king

God can let people have the sinful things they want…and it can be devastating to them…or us.

All of this is remarkably similar to Romans 1. Let me quickly read through some of the verses…

Romans 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them (which is to say they have knowledge), because God has shown it to them.

Plain to them makes me think of Wisdom’s availability. She’s not hiding. She’s yelling out to people, making herself plain.

Romans 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools

Just like those in Proverbs, they think they’re wise, but they’re fools…

Romans 1:24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,

Just like in Proverbs God turned them over to their sin…

Romans 1:25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie

They rejected wisdom for foolishness.

Romans 1:26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions…and RECEIVING IN THEMSELVES THE DUE PENALTY FOR THEIR ERROR.

Again, just like in Proverbs they were turned over to their sin, and their sin was the punishment.

After hearing these verses in Romans, read Proverbs 1:31 one more time…

Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Doesn’t this sound like what God does w/ people in Romans 1?

Look at verse 32…

Proverbs 1:32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

The simple end up being killed b/c they’re too simple to make it w/o wisdom.

Fools end up being destroyed b/c of their indifference. They didn’t care – they were complacent – and it ends up being their demise.

They all rejected Wisdom without having any idea how it would go for them.

Obeying God – which is to say embracing Wisdom – keeps us from greater suffering in the future.

I know there’s been much challenging teaching up to this point, but it ends w/ a wonderful encouragement for those who will hear Wisdom…

Proverbs 1:33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

The verse starts w/ the word but, b/c there’s a choice:

Between foolishness and wisdomBetween death and life

These verses are like a road map with:

Wisdom leading to peace and securityFolly leading to death and destruction.

Everyone is on one of these two paths.

And this brings us to Lesson 4…

Lesson 4: if people embrace wisdom, she gives them security and peace.

Wisdom offers life and blessing for all who receive her.

This past week I read an interesting quote related to Jesus that I wanted to share w/ you…

“The furniture has not moved. It’s just that the light is on now,” referring to the New Testament’s illumination of Christ.

So I’d like us to keep something in mind for these sermons on Wisdom…

They all look to Christ:

1 Corinthians 1:24 Christ is the wisdom of God1 Corinthians 1:30 Christ became to us wisdom from God.

The Book of Proverbs is written as a father speaking to his son. Repeatedly it says…

A wise son makes a glad father.

Jesus is the Wise Son who makes His Father glad. Think of Jesus’ baptism…

Matthew 3:17 A voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.”

Since Jesus is the source of all wisdom, all the proverbs point to Him.

So what does that mean for verse 33?

This promise of security, ease, and no fear of disaster, finds its fulfillment in Christ.

Think of how only He can provide this for us:

To be saved by Christ is to be secureTo know Christ is to know the peace He offersTo be in Christ is to no longer need fear – or dread as the verse says – the penalty of our sin

Wisdom delivers us, but Christ is the wisdom of God, and true deliverance is found in Him.

Let’s pray.

Where Can Wisdom Be Found? (Job 28:12, 20) - The Important Question Job Asked During His Trials

“Where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” is the important question Job asked his friends during his trials. This is the same question we should ask.

“Where can wisdom be found?” (Job 28:12). This is the important question Job asked during his trials. We should ask the same question.Receive a FREE copy of Pastor Scott LaPierre’s book,  Seven Biblical Insights for Healthy, Joyful, Christ-Centered Marriages .View all Pastor Scott’s books on my Amazon author page.Visit Scott LaPierre’s speaking page for conference and speaking information, including testimonies, endorsements, and contact info.Table of ContentsSermon Lessons for Where Can Wisdom Be Found?Family Worship Guide for Where Can Wisdom Be Found?Sermon Notes for Where Can Wisdom Be Found?Lesson 1: do we pursue wisdom?Lesson 2: wisdom is hidden.Lesson 3: wisdom belongs to God.Sermon Lessons for Where Can Wisdom Be Found?Lesson 1: Do we ____________ ____________? (Job 28:1-12; Pro 3:15). Lesson 2: Wisdom ____ ____________ (Job 28:13-22; 1 Cor 2:7; Matt 11:25; Luke 8:9; Matt 13:10-17). Lesson 3: Wisdom ______________ to ______ (Job 28:23-28; Rom 1:19-20; Ecc 12:13; Pro 9:10; Psa 110:10). Family Worship Guide for Where Can Wisdom Be Found?Day 1: Read Job 28:1-12 and Proverbs 3:15 and discuss: Why did Job’s friends think he suffered? Where did Job say wisdom is NOT found? What do you pursue the most in your life, in other words, where do you invest the most of your time, energy, talents, etc? What do you pursue too often? What should you pursue more? Day 2: Read Job 28:13-22, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Luke 8:9, Matthew 11:25, 13:10-17 and discuss: Why can’t we find wisdom in creation? Why did Jesus speak in parables? Who is wisdom hidden from? Who is wisdom revealed to? Why is wisdom so valuable? Day 3: Read Job 28:23-28, Romans 1:19-20, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Proverbs 9:10, Psalm 110:10 and discuss: Where can wisdom be found? What reveals wisdom, or what serves as a demonstration of God’s wisdom? Why is the fear of God associated with wisdom in the Wisdom Literature?Sermon Notes for Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Job 28. This sermon is going to serve as a foundation for next Sunday’s sermon.

A few weeks ago I told you I wanted to have a series on wisdom, but from a different perspective. I wanted to focus on the wisdom needed to navigate through trials.

Fittingly, the man in Scripture most associated w/ trials – Job – also has one of the most profound chapters in Scripture about wisdom.

My Moody Bible said, “Job 28 is regarded rightly by many scholars as the theological and literary heart of the entire book.”

Even though the first two chapters and the last few chapters get the most attention, maybe this chapter should receive the most attention!

Let me share a quote w/ you that came to mind as I studied this chapter…

On February 12, 2002, Donald Rumsfeld, who was serving as the US Secretary of Defense, said…

“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

The statement became the subject of much commentary including a documentary film titled, “The Unknown Known,” and Rumsfeld named his autobiography, Known and Unknown: A Memoir.

Although Rumsfeld was speaking militarily when he made the statement, I think it works regarding trials b/c they fall into all three categories:

We know God brings forth good from trials. This is a known known.We know we’ll experience trials in the future, but we don’t know what the trials will be. This is a known unknown.God is doing many unknown things through trials. John Piper said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” The 9,997 are unknown unknowns.

By the time we reach Job 28, Job and his friends have been debating his trials, but they don’t think anything is unknown. To them it’s all known knowns. They think they have it all figured out and it’s as simple as Job is terribly suffering b/c he’s a terrible sinner.

But to Job, he doesn’t think he’s been terrible, and he knows some righteous people suffer terribly, and some unrighteous people seem to lack suffering. To him it’s a known unknown.

The actual truth is an unknown unknown to Job and his friends, b/c they didn’t know about the exchange between God and the devil at the beginning of the book…

Job 1:8 and 2:3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

The truth was the opposite of what they were saying: Job was suffering b/c he was so righteous. He’s like the tree that rose above all the others and ended up being struck by lightning as a result.

By the time we reach Job 28, Job has grown weary of the clichés and platitudes his friends have been giving him in the name of wisdom. He wanted real wisdom. Look at:

Job 28:12 “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?Job 28:20 “From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?

This is the theme of the chapter: Where is wisdom?

First, we’re going to look for it deep in the earth. Look at verse 1…

Job 28:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore. 3 Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness.

Man digs into the darkest parts of the earth to mine silver, gold, iron, and copper…but he doesn’t find wisdom.

Job 28:4 He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives; they are forgotten by travelers; they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.

When it says they hang in the air and swing to and fro, it’s describing man descending w/ ropes and swinging back and forth.

Man risks his life diggin deep shafts – or tunnels – where nobody lives or travels, and in places people have forgotten about…but he doesn’t find wisdom.

Job 28:5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

Bread – which is really to say grain and wheat – comes up out of the earth, but when you go down into the earth there’s fire, referring tomolten rock and lava.

Job 28:6 Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold.

Man finds precious stones – such as sapphires – and gold…but still no wisdom.

Job 28:7 “That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

Man searches out places no bird has ever flown or seen…but still no wisdom.

Job 28:8 The proud beasts have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it.

Man searches out places the most powerful animals – such as the lion – haven’t even gone.

Job 28:9 “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. 10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing.

Man breaks open large rocks and overturns mountains in the sense of cutting tunnels into them. He finds every precious thing that could be under them…but still no wisdom.

Job 28:11 He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. 12 “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

Man creates dams to stop rivers so he can search out riverbeds. If there’s anything valuable hidden in the dark, he brings it to light.

He has looked, searched, and dug everywhere, but he doesn’t find wisdom…and there are two reasons he doesn’t.

One reason is in verse 13…

Job 28:13a Man does not know its worth,

This is a strong criticism…

Man doesn’t find wisdom, b/c he’s not looking for it, and he’s not looking for it, b/c he doesn’t how valuable it is. He’d rather find riches and gold, but…

Proverbs 3:15 [Wisdom] is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Man will look everywhere for wealth w/o looking for wisdom…even though wisdom is more valuable.

This should cause us to ask how much we value wisdom…and this brings us to lesson 1…

Lesson 1: do we pursue wisdom?

There’s an interesting irony w/ the verses we read…

On the surface, they sound like they’re commending man’s ingenuity:

He faces great danger to explore the earth and the skyHe works hard to build tunnels and caves through rock and under mountainsHe brings light to the darkest and farthest places

But these verses are actually a criticism, and here’s why…

Man won’t put forth the same effort to gain wisdom…even though it’s much more valuable than everything he’s looking for.

This should cause us to ask if we value wisdom, and we can see how much we value wisdom, by how diligently we pursue it.

We’re all pursuing something in that we’re all investing our time and energy in something.

We pursue what we value. If we value wisdom we’ll invest time and energy in gaining it.

I told you there were two reasons man can’t find wisdom. The first reason is he doesn’t value it, and the second reason is in the rest of verse 13…

Job 28:13b and it is not found in the land of the living.

There’s no place in all the world that we can find wisdom…and this brings us to Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: wisdom is hidden.

If you look at the end of verse 11 it says the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

Man might bring many hidden things to light, but there’s one hidden thing he can’t bring to light and that’s wisdom.

The above verses make the point that man can’t find wisdom in creation

Man can search everywhereHe can dig out mines in the earthHe can open shafts where nobody livesHe can look high in the air where birds fly

But he can’t find wisdom b/c it’s hidden.

Multiple places in Scripture present wisdom as something hidden:

1 Corinthians 2:7 But we impart a secret and HIDDEN WISDOM OF GOD, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.Matthew 11:25 Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have HIDDEN THESE THINGS from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Jesus said the Father hid these things from the wise, which sounds odd b/c since they’re called wise it sounds like they have wisdom, but it means wise in their own eyes; it doesn’t mean they have wisdom.

Consider the parables for a moment…

The word parable is related to our English word parallel, b/c…

Jesus used real-life, familiar situations – such as a rebellious son, an annoying neighbor, and an unjust judge – to teach wisdom.He put earthly, physical stories alongside – or parallel to – heavenly, eternal realities to illustrate them.

What happened most of the time when Jesus taught parables?

Did people say, “Wow, this makes so much sense. I’m amazed by what I just learned.”Or did they say, “This doesn’t make sense”?

They said it didn’t make sense…b/c the wisdom was hidden.

Now here’s the question…

If Jesus wanted to teach about the kingdom of God…If He wanted people to gain wisdom…

Why did He speak in parables? Why didn’t He just communicate plainly and straightforwardly?

The disciples asked this exact question…

Matthew 13:10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

Jesus replied…

Matthew 13:13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand…16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The point of these verses is wisdom is hidden: God keeps it hidden from some, and He reveals it to others.

Before we read verses 14-19 I want you to look for the repeated use of the word not stressing the absence of wisdom in all of creation b/c it’s hidden…

Job 28:14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

The deep is the ocean, and you can’t find wisdom there or in the sea.

Job 28:15 It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

Job mentioned gold fives times, silver once, and he named seven precious stones…yet none of them can purchase wisdom.

For the last three weeks we discussed knowledge, and this is one of the major differences between wisdom and knowledge…

Knowledge is something you can purchase.

People spend thousands of dollars on degrees, and online courses, and books to obtain knowledgePeople pay others to train them so they have the knowledge to do something

But there’s no purchasing wisdom.

One reason you can’t purchase it is you can’t put a price on it. Look at verse 16…

Job 28:16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. 17 Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. 18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls. 19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.

Th world thinks that anything can be obtained or fixed if only we have enough money:

Government agencies ask for bigger slices of the annual budget so they can do a better job fighting crime, ending pollution, providing jobs, building a better environment, and caring for the homeless.People think if they get enough money they’ll be able to buy what they want and finally be happy.

While a certain amount of money is needed to survive, money is not the do-all and be-all that the world thinks it is…and one reason it’s not is no amount can obtain wisdom for us.

So it leaves us w/ the question in verse 20…

Job 28:20 “From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? 21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air.

Living people can’t find wisdom, and it’s even concealed from birds who fly high overhead and see everything.

Job 28:22 Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

You can’t find wisdom in the land of the living, and you can’t find it in the land of the dead.

Instead, here’s where to find it…

Job 28:23 “God understands the way to it, and he knows its place.

Only God knows where to find wisdom…and this brings us to Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: wisdom belongs to God.

Twice – in verses 12 and 20 – Job asked, “Where is wisdom?” and He answered here: God has it.

We need to understand that wisdom is supernatural. It’s supernatural in that it belongs to God, and that’s why it can’t be found in the natural world.

Colossians 1:9 We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in ALL SPIRITUAL WISDOM and understanding,

Wisdom is spiritual, or supernatural, versus earthly, or natural.

Now Job gives evidence of God’s wisdom…

Job 28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

God is omniscient, which means He sees and knows everything. He doesn’t have to dig into the earth or look up to the sky to see what’s there. He already knows.

Job 28:25 When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure,

God has the wisdom to adjust the pressure of the wind and measure the amount of water in the atmosphere. If these proportions were changed even a little, we’d experience terrible disturbances in our environment.

Job 28:26 when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, 27 then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out.

God commands the rain and guides the storm as it moves across the earth. Flashes of lightning and peals of thunder may seem arbitrary to us, but God controls all of them.

Consider these verses…

Romans 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain…20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

God’s attributes are shown in the fabric of creation, and especially His wisdom b/c of the way everything is ordered so perfectly.

Now let me explain these verses in the context of the book of Job, b/c I think it’s very encouraging…

As Job considered God’s sovereignty over the universe, it caused him to see God’s sovereignty over the events in his life.Even though everything looked chaotic to him at first, as he thought about the way God orders nature, he began to believe that God ordered everything he was experiencing.As He saw God behind all of creation, it allowed him to see God behind all his suffering.

This is what led him to ask for an audience w/ God in the following chapters.

The wonderful, encouraging lesson for us is this…

If God can control all of creation – in its vastness, complexity, and majesty – how much easier can He control our circumstances?If we can trust God to order all of nature so well, how much more can we trust Him to order our lives?

And b/c God is so wise and sovereign, there’s only one reasonable conclusion, which Job states in verse 28…

Job 28:28 And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Earlier Job said where to find wisdom – from God – and now he says what wisdom is: fearing God.

The Book of Job is part of what’s known as the wisdom books, and fittingly they associate wisdom w/ the fear of God:

Eccesiastes 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.Proverb 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdomPsalm 110:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

The wisdom books are called the wisdom books b/c they teach the fear of God.

What does it mean to fear God?

It means having an attitude of reverence and awe toward Him b/c we respect His power and greatness.

Something interesting about this is God said Job feared Him…

Job 1:8 and 2:3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, WHO FEARS GOD and turns away from evil?”

Job has been looking for wisdom, but b/c he feared God, he had it since the beginning.

When you want to find wise people, look for people who fear God.

Let me close by showing you a couple verses in Job 42.

Take your minds back to the beginning of the sermon. Job’s friends thought everything was a known known, which is to say:

They knew why certain things were happening…They knew why God was doing what He was doing…They understood His purposes…

Twice Job asked: Where is wisdom?

We could say it’s not w/ his friends.

When Job talked about nature and creation, it’s like he said:

“You don’t understand the natural – such as rain and thunder – how could you claim to understand the supernatural?”“You can’t explain the physical and temporal, so how can you explain the spiritual and eternal?”

They couldn’t understand Job’s suffering. It remained incomprehensible to them.

When they acted like they could understand, it wasn’t wisdom. It was arrogance and presumption.

And that’s why God was upset w/ them. Look at verse 7…

Job 42:7 After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for YOU HAVE NOT SPOKEN OF ME WHAT IS RIGHT, as my servant Job has. 8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For YOU HAVE NOT SPOKEN OF ME WHAT IS RIGHT, as my servant Job has.”

God was angry w/ them. Twice He said that what they said wasn’t right. Job had to pray for them, and offer a sacrifice on their behalf, and then God wouldn’t punish them for their foolishness.

Here’s the important point…

Many people think of wisdom the way Job’s friends thought of wisdom, but their understanding of wisdom basically makes them false prophets.

What I mean is, they think it’s wise, or a demonstration of wisdom to say:

“God did this for this reason…”“This is why this happened…”“This is why God is doing this…”

But if we get an elevated view of everything we’ve read, here’s what we see…

God is wise and:

Only He knows why certain things happenOnly He knows why He does certain things

They’re known knowns to Him, but most of the time they’re unknown unknowns to us.

So this begs the question…

What is wisdom if it’s not knowing why God does what He does?

Wisdom is fearing God regardless of what’s happening in our lives and even though we don’t understand it.

Job was vindicated before his friends – and shown to be wise – not b/c he understood what God was doing, but b/c he continued to trust God even though he did NOT understand what God was doing.

Let me read Job’s words one more time…

Job 28:28 The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.

Wisdom is knowing there are lots of unknown unknowns out there, but trusting and fearing God through all of them.

Let’s pray.

I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) – Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others

Paul said, “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat again, lest I make my brother stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13). Although Paul knew all food was clean, he said it was unclean to the person whose conscience forbids him from eating it. Because it is sinful to violate our consciences as Paul discussed in Romans 2, in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians, he said he would sacrifice for others.

“I will never eat meat again, lest I make my brother stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13). Paul knew food was clean, but he sacrificed for others.



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Table of ContentsSermon Lessons for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) – Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others Family Worship Guide for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) – Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others Sermon Notes for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) – Sacrificing for and Deferring to OthersLesson 3: knowledge is used immorally when it (part ii) destroys others.Lesson 2: knowledge is used morally when it (part 2) sacrifices for others.



Sermon Lessons for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) – Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others

Note: The lessons that are filled in are from the previous sermon.

Lesson 1: Knowledge is amoral, but the way we use it is moral. Lesson 2: Knowledge is used immorally when it:(Part I) Is combined with pride (1 Cor 8:1).(Part II) ________________ ___________ (Rom 14:14-23, 1 Cor 8:9-12). Lesson 3: Knowledge is used morally when it:(Part I) Is combined with love (1 Cor 8:1; Eph 4:15; Phil 1:9).(Part II) ____________________ for ____________ (1 Cor 8:13; John 10:18).



Family Worship Guide for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) – Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others



Day 1: Read Romans 14:14-23 and discuss: How can food be clean to some and unclean to others? Wat are the essentials and nonessentials in the kingdom of God? How can we prevent other from condemning themselves? How can we keep from condemning ourselves? Day 2: Read 1 Corinthians 8:9-12 and discuss: How do we “destroy a brother or sister in Christ? What does it mean to do so? How can we avoid doing so? Why is it a sin against Christ Himself? Day 3: Read 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 and discuss: Why did Paul say he would never eat meat again? What application does this have for us? What are some examples of things God might have us give up for others? How do we decide what liberties we have? How do we decide what liberties we don’t have?



Sermon Notes for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) – Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others

The title of this morning’s sermon is, “Sacrificing for Others.”

This will be our third and final sermon on 1 Corinthians 8. We’ll be looking at verses: 11-13.

We’ve spent two sermons covering the situation in the Corinthian church, so I don’t want to spend much time reviewing it. Basically, the church was divided. One group thought they could eat meat sacrificed to idols. The other group thought they shouldn’t.

But we’re going to begin in Romans 2, to review a few verses from last week, and then we’ll look at some verses in Romans 14 before moving to 1 Corinthians 8.

Look at Romans 2:12…

Romans 2:12a For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law,

Those without the law are Gentiles and Paul says they’ll perish, b/c they’re sinners. He’ll elaborate on this in verses 14 and 15.

Romans 2:12b and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

These are Jews who have the law, and they’ll be judged b/c…

Romans 2:13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Having the law wasn’t enough. They had to obey it, which they didn’t do.

Since the Gentiles didn’t receive the law, they thought they didn’t know right from wrong, which allowed them to be innocent. But look at verse 14 to see what condemns them…

Romans 2:14a For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires,

This means obey parts of the law. Even people who have never heard the Ten Commandments still have consciences, which tell them certain things – lying, stealing and murder – are wrong…and they still choose wrong…and it leaves them as guilty before God as people who had the Law…b/c it was as though they had a law too…and that’s what the rest of the verse says…

Romans 2:14b they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15a They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while THEIR CONSCIENCE ALSO BEARS WITNESS, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

These are the two things our consciences do:

Accuse us when we do something wrong.Excuse us when we do something right.

Even though people have consciences telling them not to do certain things, they do them anyway, so they do something they know is wrong.

Verse 14 says their conscience is a law to [them], so they’re breaking the law they have, which leaves them as guilty as Jews breaking the Ten Commandments.

Now let me ask you a simple question…

Is it bad when people disobey their conscience?

Yes.

Now another question…

If it’s bad for people to disobey their conscience, then how bad do you think it is to LEAD PEOPLE to disobey their conscience?

Really bad! It’s called stumbling others.

Before we look at 1 Corinthians 8, let me show you a few verses in Romans 14 that will help us better understand the verses in 1 Corinthians 8. We’re going to go through these verses quickly so you can pick up the theme. We’ll start at verse 14…

Romans 14:14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but IT IS UNCLEAN FOR ANYONE WHO THINKS IT UNCLEAN.

This is interesting. We know from many verses that Paul thought all food was clean.

But he also said food is unclean for people who think it’s unclean, or whose consciences forbid them from eating it.

That’s interesting that a clean food could be unclean to some people b/c of their consciences.

If people are convinced they shouldn’t do something, even if their assessment is wrong, they shouldn’t do it.

Here’s a quote I like…

“A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”

The idea is someone has been convinced to do something against his will – or conscience – but he isn’t really convinced – he’s of the same opinion – so he ends up sinning against his conscience.

Look at verse 15…

Romans 14:15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

The Greek word for grieved means caused pain or distress.

When he says grieved by what you eat, it doesn’t mean the weak brother looks at you eat something, thinks you shouldn’t eat it, and is grieved b/c you ate it. It means he sees you eat something, thinks he can eat it, and is grieved by the shame and guilt he experiences later.

Notice two things in this verse that will relate to the verses in 1 Corinthians 8:

Paul says we destroy people when we cause them to violate their consciences. This is strong language that I’ll explain later.Second, he says Christ died for the believer. Hold on to this too.

Look at verse 16…

Romans 14:16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.

Good means acceptable. In other words, you think something is acceptable – or good – but it becomes bad, b/c it stumbles someone else.

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

This mentions essentials and nonessentials in the kingdom of God:

Eating and drinking, or food and drink, are nonessentials, or amoral issues. We don’t argue w/ people over nonessentials. We pursue peace in these areas, b/c they’re not about right and wrong.Righteousness and peace and joy are essentials, or moral issues, and we must be willing to offend or persuade people in these areas, b/c they’re about right and wrong.

Romans 14:18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

If you Christ by loving the weaker brother you will be acceptable to God – which is to say God is pleased w/ your behavior – and approved by men – which is to say men will be happy w/ you too, b/c they know you’re acting out of love for them.

Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

There are two reasons we shouldn’t quarrel over nonessentials…

First, b/c we should pursue peace and mutual upbuilding – or unity.

Second, b/c we could cause people to violate their consciences. Look at verse 20…

Romans 14:20 Do not, for the sake of food, DESTROY the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another STUMBLE by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to STUMBLE.

Stumbling others can destroy them, so…

Romans 14:22a The faith – or knowledge – that you have, KEEP BETWEEN YOURSELF AND GOD.

I told you two weeks ago that faith should be thought of as knowledge. For example, verse 4 says As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

It would be better to understand this as weak in [knowledge] or lacking knowledge that others have, b/c this isn’t an issue of having strong or weak faith.

We should keep our knowledge to ourselves so we don’t lead others to disobey their consciences.

Look at the rest of the verse…

Romans 14:22b Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves…or on himself for what he thinks is acceptable.

This is interesting…

If we don’t keep our knowledge to ourselves, we could cause others to sin by violating their consciences…and that should violate our consciences too. We should feel bad about causing others to sin.

We’re blessed if we keep our knowledge to ourselves, b/c then we [have no] reason to pass judgment on ourselves – or condemn ourselves – for causing others to sin.

This is a great reason not to cause others to violate their consciences: so we can have clear consciences too.

Look at verse 23…

Romans 14:23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

When it says is condemned, it doesn’t mean God condemns him – although that’s true too – it means his conscience condemns him. Later he has doubts about what he did, feels bad about it, and condemns himself.

Up to this point maybe you’ve wondered: “When people violate their conscience is it really sin?”

This verse is important b/c it answers that question for us. It’s the first verse we’ve seen saying it is sin.

Now w/ this in mind turn back to 1 Corinthians 8. We’re at verse 11 but back up to verse 9 for context…

1 Corinthians 8:9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.

Here it is again about the weak brother is destroyed…and this brings us to the last part of Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: knowledge is used immorally when it (part ii) destroys others.

In verse 10 notice four important words: if anyone sees you.

We’ve talked about persuading someone to do something, but maybe we’ve only thought in terms of verbally. With the words sees you we’ve now moved from the direct to the indirect. What I mean is:

We can directly lead people to violate their consciences by talking them into doing things they shouldn’t do.But we can also indirectly lead people to violate their consciences by our example.

This causes us to consider who’s around us and how our actions might affect them.

To say a weak brother is destroyed – which Paul says in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 – is very strong language.

What does it mean?

It’s not speaking physically. It’s speaking spiritually.

Since people can’t lose their salvation, it doesn’t mean they go to hell, but it does mean serious detriment to their spiritual growth.

Let me give you two examples, one from Paul’s day, and one from our day.

Imagine a Gentile was steeped in idolatry. He repents, comes to Christ, and as – as Romans 14:23 says – has doubts about eating meat sacrificed to idols.

But then he sees a strong believer go into the temple of one of the idols he used to worship. The strong believer buys some of the meat sacrificed to the idol and eats it. The Gentile believer is encouraged – as verse 10 says – by the strong believer’s example, goes back to the temple he frequented before, buys and eats meat sacrificed to the idol. Later – as Romans 14:23 says – he has doubts and is condemned, because [he didn’t eat in] faith.

So the strong brother stumbled the weak brother.

But now imagine this…

The weak brother goes back to the temple again to buy more meat, and is drawn back into worshiping the idol. Now he’s destroyed b/c of the strong brother’s example.

Let me give you an example in our day…

Imagine someone’s weak conscience prevents him from drinking alcohol, but he sees someone w/ a strong conscience drink alcohol. He thinks it’s okay, so he drinks. Later he feels bad, b/c his conscience forbid him. So the strong brother stumbled the weak brother.

But now imagine this…

The strong brother can drink his whole life w/o ever having problems, but the weak brother continues drinking and ends up becoming a drunk. The strong brother destroyed the weak brother.

For a moment let me step out of the preacher role and step more into the shepherd role…

I can honestly tell you that I’ve never seen one good thing come from drinking alcohol. But I’ve seen many bad things. Katie and I have both had family members struggle w/ drunkenness. Katie’s mother died from it.

I see no advantages, but plenty of dangers and disadvantages.

A few times in my Christian life I’ve had people argue w/ me about the freedom they have to drink.

I don’t know if they ended up stumbling anyone else, but at least two of these people who argued w/ me later ended up having problems w/ alcohol. Their supposed freedom didn’t destroy someone else. It destroyed them.

This also shows that even though they tried to convince me – and perhaps themselves – that they had the freedom to drink, they didn’t really have it.

At the end of verse 11 notice the words the brother for whom Christ died.

This is about value. It would be easy for the strong brother to think the weak brother isn’t as valuable, but Paul says Christ died for him too. He’s as valuable as the strong brother, so the strong brother must be concerned for him.

Also, b/c Christ died for the weak brother, the strong brother didn’t just sin against the weak brother. He also sinned against Christ. Look at verse 12…

1 Corinthians 8:12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

Since Christ died for this brother, he’s part of the body of Christ, which is to say he’s part of Christ, and to sin against him is to sin against Christ.

This verse is so important b/c…

People could listen to everything Paul said and think, “If I cause someone to stumble, it’s not a deal. I’m simply offending that person. It’s their issue and they need to deal w/ it.”

Paul says, “No, it’s very serious, and it’s your issue. You’re sinning against Christ Himself. You need to repent.”

I was reflecting on something. Look back w/ me at verse 1…

1 Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.

At the very beginning Paul appealed to his readers to do what’s right out of love.

We understand he meant out of love for others, but when Paul mentions Christ in the last two verses it’s like he also appeals to us out of love for Christ. It’s like he says, “Do this not just b/c you love your brother or sister in Christ, but b/c you love Christ.”

This is important, b/c sometimes we don’t want to do things for people. At those times we need to remember we’re doing it for Christ.

I want you to notice something important…

This is the 5th and final time in verses 7-12 that Paul mentions the weak brother.

He also mentioned the weak brother twice in Romans 14…

Romans 14:4 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him…2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.

In all these verses about the weak brother, Paul never talks about the strong brother making the weak brother strong.

By this point we know why: in the process of trying to make the weak brother strong, the strong brother could cause the weak brother to violate his conscience.

So here’s the question…

If the strong brother isn’t supposed to make the weak brother strong, what is the strong brother supposed to do for the weak brother?

The answer is in verse 13…he’s supposed to sacrifice for him…

1 Corinthians 8:13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Because it is such a serious sin to stumble someone, Paul says he’s willing to give up eating meat altogether. He probably wasn’t saying he’d never eat any meat again. Instead, he’s saying he’d never eat meat sacrificed to idols…and this brings us to Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: knowledge is used morally when it (part 2) sacrifices for others.

For believers it should be unthinkable to sin against Christ or our brothers and sisters for whom He died. Rather the love Paul preaches in this chapter will lead us to love those whom Christ loves. As a result, we will take care to avoid doing anything that would stumble others and hinder their spiritual growth in Christ.

Paul is encouraging us to gladly sacrifice our rights.

This is an interesting sermon to preach right after the 4th of July, b/c this is the one time per year we most think about our freedoms and liberties.

As Americans we think about the freedoms and liberties we have, but as Christians Paul wants us to think about the freedoms and liberties we sacrifice for others.

The Bible expects us to do the opposite of what we would expect to do:

We would expect the Bible to tell us to convince others of their freedom and liberty.Instead, we’re told to sacrifice our freedom and liberty to make others comfortable, prevent stumbling, have unity, and be at peace.

So interestingly…

When you meet people who have different convictions than you, instead of trying to convince them to be like you, you’re expected to lay down your liberties and be more like them when you’re around them:

They’re vegans, you become a veganThey don’t drink, you don’t drinkThey don’t like certain movies, music, or activities, you stop those movies, music, and activities

Basically, we’re expected to make the changes that allow us to be more like others, instead of expecting people to be more like us.

We determine what we can and can’t do – not by considering whether we have the liberty – but by considering the way that liberty affects others.

If you think you have a liberty, but it will stumble your brother or sister in Christ, you don’t have that liberty…at least not around them.

As a Christian, you’re part of a family and that means thinking about how your actions affect the rest of the family.

We should consider why we don’t give up liberties sometimes, and usually it boils down to selfishness:

We care more about ourselves than we care about others.We care more about what we want than what others want.

The sad irony associated w/ this kind of attitude is people will often defend their actions by saying something like, “I have the freedom in Christ to do this.”

So they’ll associate their selfishness w/ Christ, as though Christ allows them to be selfish.

But the reality is if they were really thinking about Christ they’d say, “I know Christ wants me thinking about my brothers and sisters, so even though I have the liberty to do this, I won’t!”

Let me conclude w/ this…

Only by the transforming work of the Gospel can the good of our neighbor come to mean more to us than our freedoms and liberties, b/c in the Gospel Jesus gave up His own freedoms and liberties for us.

Our motivation for all this – our motivation to love others and give up our freedoms – should come from thinking about Jesus’ example and the freedom He gave up for us:

John 10:18 [Jesus said], “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down.”

This is a lot of freedom to be willing to give up!

Jesus said, “I have the freedom to keep My life, but I’m willing to give it up for you.”

Jesus allowed men to mock Him, beat Him, pluck out His beard and finally lift Him up and nail Him to a cross.

When we think of the freedom Jesus was willing to give up for us, it should make the freedom we give up for our brothers and sisters in Christ pale in comparison.

Let’s pray.

Knowledge Puffs Up but Love Builds Up – We Use Knowledge Immorally When It Divides and Makes Proud

Paul said that “Knowledge puffs up but love builds up,” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Knowledge is amoral, but it can be used in moral and immoral ways:

Morally when it’s combined with love and builds upImmorally when it’s combined with pride and leads to condemning others over nonessentials





Paul said that “Knowledge puffs up but love builds up,” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Knowledge is amoral, but it can be used in moral and immoral ways.



Receive a FREE copy of Pastor Scott LaPierre’s book,  Seven Biblical Insights for Healthy, Joyful, Christ-Centered Marriages .View all Pastor Scott’s books on my Amazon author page.Visit Scott LaPierre’s speaking page for conference and speaking information, including testimonies, endorsements, and contact info.



Table of ContentsSermon Lessons for Knowledge Puffs Up but Love Builds Up Family Worship Guide for Knowledge Puffs Up but Love Builds Up Sermon Notes for Knowledge Puffs Up but Love Builds UpLesson 1: knowledge is amoral, but the way we use it is moral.Lesson 2: having knowledge doesn’t always mean determining who’s right and wrong.Lesson 3: knowledge is used morally when combined with love.Lesson 4: knowledge is used immorally (part 1) when combined with pride.Lesson 4: knowledge is used immorally when (part 2) condemning others over nonessentials.Lesson 4: knowledge is used immorally when (part 3) stumbling others.



Sermon Lessons for Knowledge Puffs Up but Love Builds Up

Note: Lessons 1-3 are from the previous sermon: Concerning Things Offered to Idols (1 Corinthians 8:1) – Using Knowledge Morally to Build Up Others

Lesson 1: Knowledge is amoral, but the way we use it is moral. Lesson 2: Having knowledge doesn’t always mean determining who’s right and wrong (1 Cor 8:4-8; Rom 14:5). Lesson 3: Knowledge is used morally when combined with love (1 Cor 8:1; Eph 4:15; Phil 1:9). Lesson 4: Knowledge is used immorally when:(Part I) Combined ________ __________ (1 Cor 8:1).(Part II) ____________________ ____________ over nonessentials (Rom 14:1-4, 10, 13).(Part III) __________________ others (Rom 2:12-15; 1 Cor 8:9-10)



Family Worship Guide for Knowledge Puffs Up but Love Builds Up



Day 1: Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-7 and discuss: Why did the Corinthians’ knowledge puff them up? What does it look like to use our knowledge to build up others? What about using it to build up ourselves in pride? What are some ways we can use knowledge to build up others? What are some ways we can work to prevent knowledge from building us up in pride? Day 2: Read Romans 14:1-3 and discuss: What does it look like to condemn others with our knowledge? When should we condemn others with our knowledge? When shouldn’t we? How do we know the difference? What makes something an opinion (nonessential) versus an essential? Why does the person with more liberty condemn the person with less? Why does the person with less liberty condemn the person with more liberty? Day 3: Read Romans 2:12-15 and 1 Corinthians 8:9-10 and discuss: Why are Jews condemned before God? Why are Gentiles condemned before God? Describe our consciences and how they work. What does it mean to stumble others? Why is it an immoral use of knowledge to do so?



Sermon Notes for Knowledge Puffs Up but Love Builds Up

This morning we’ll continue in 1 Corinthians 8.

The title of last Sunday’s sermon on verses 1-8, was, “Using Knowledge Morally.”

The title of this morning’s sermon on verses 9 and 10, is, “Using Knowledge Immorally.”

I shared that I wanted to begin a series on wisdom to help us navigate through trials and difficulties.

And I think we must understand the differences between knowledge and wisdom…and there’s no better place – at least in my opinion – to understand knowledge than 1 Corinthians 8.

Let me briefly review…

Last week we discussed that knowledge is amoral, but the way we use it is moral. I left this lesson your handout…

Lesson 1: knowledge is amoral, but the way we use it is moral.

Knowledge can be used in moral and immoral ways, and some of the Corinthians were using their knowledge immorally.

They were facing a situation that was dividing their church: “Should we eat meat sacrificed to idols?”

Two groups developed. The first group is in verses 4-6. Look there with me…

1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Notice Paul used the used the words we and us b/c he was in this group.

This first group would say…

“Idols aren’t real – there’s no being named Zeus, or Hermes, or Mars – so whatever is offered to them isn’t really offered to anything. I can go in an idol’s temple to buy meat, because it’s no different than any other meat except that it’s cheaper, which means I’m being a good steward of my finances if I buy it.”

The second group is in verse 7…

1 Corinthians 8:7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

This second group would say…

“I don’t want anything to do with meat sacrificed to idols, and no believer should have anything to do with it. You could give it to me for free and I wouldn’t take it.”

Paul made the point that it didn’t matter which group they were in. Look at verse 8…

1 Corinthians 8:8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

Neither group is better or worse if they do or don’t eat meat…and this gave us Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: having knowledge doesn’t always mean determining who’s right and wrong.

Paul didn’t side with anyone or commend one side and rebuke the other.

So here’s the question…

If it’s not about who’s right and wrong, what is it about?

Paul gives the answer in verse 1…

1 Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.

Notice the words love builds up. You could say this is what it’s about.

This verse reveals how knowledge can be used morally and immorally. Last week we talked about how knowledge can be used morally: when it’s combined with love and builds up…this gave us Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: knowledge is used morally when combined with love.

Now we can talk about what it means when knowledge is used immorally.

Look at the words This “knowledge” puffs up…and this brings us to Lesson 4…

Lesson 4: knowledge is used immorally (part 1) when combined with pride.

Notice the parallelism:

Knowledge puffs upBut love builds up

Knowledge is going to build up one way or the other:

We can use it to build up othersWe can use it to build up ourselves

Unfortunately, some of the Corinthians were using knowledge pridefully to build up themselves.

The verse is misleading. It looks like it’s saying knowledge puffs up as though knowledge is immoral and should be avoided.

But this should be interpreted in light of the rest of Scripture, and plenty of other verses present knowledge as something valuable that we should pursue.

Here are two examples:

Proverbs 15:14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge.Proverbs 18:15 An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

It’s not saying knowledge is something that should be avoided b/c it make us proud. Instead, it’s saying knowledge is something that CAN make us proud.

The ESV translates this well. It adds the word this before knowledge. Instead of saying knowledge puffs up, it says THIS knowledge puffs up.

What knowledge?

The knowledge the Corinthians had that caused them to say:

We’re right and you’re wrongWe know better than you.

This is why some translations – such as the NIV and ESV – put the words “all of us possess knowledge” in quotation marks. Paul was quoting the Corinthians. They were saying all of US possess knowledge.

You can hear the pride.

If we’re going to learn you the Corinthians, we should ask ourselves:

Is knowledge a source of pride?Does knowledge cause us to act arrogantly?

If our knowledge puffs us up, something inevitably happens.

We condemn othersWe look down on people who don’t know as much as us

And this bring us to the next part of Lesson 4…

Lesson 4: knowledge is used immorally when (part 2) condemning others over nonessentials.

Last week I said 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14 are similar:

In 1 Corinthians 8 they were arguing about food sacrificed to idolsIn Romans 14 they were arguing about food and days of the week

The Romans were using their knowledge immorally to condemn each other over nonessentials.

Turn one book to the left to Romans 14:1…

Romans 14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

It says weak in faith, but it would be better to understand this as weak in [knowledge] or lacking knowledge that others have, b/c this isn’t an issue of having strong or weak faith.

Paul says to welcome these people, versus quarrel with them over opinions.

Opinionsis such an important word, b/c it reveals what we’re NOT dealing with:

We’re not dealing with Scripture.We’re not dealing with hills to die on.We’re not dealing with battles that need to be fought.

Instead, they’re nonessentials.

What makes something an opinion or nonessential?

Basically, it’s something that doesn’t have the weight of Scripture behind it. Scripture doesn’t forbid it or permit it.

Therefore, if you’re arguing your opinion, you have to argue without  the Bible’s support.

Briefly look at verse 22…

Romans 14:22a The faith – again we should think of this as knowledge – that you have, KEEP BETWEEN YOURSELF AND GOD.

Paul is urging them to keep their knowledge – or opinions – to themselves, which is to say between themselves and God.

Look back at verse 2…

Romans 14:2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats DESPISE THE ONE WHO ABSTAINS, and let not the one who abstains PASS JUDGMENT ON THE ONE WHO EATS, for God has welcomed him. 4 WHO ARE YOU TO PASS JUDGMENT on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Notice it says despise. This is strong language. It reveals contempt.

Pass judgment – which Paul says twice – is also strong. It means to condemn or look down on.

So we knowledge is used immorally when it’s used to condemn others over nonessentials.

There are two reasons we’re not supposed to despise or pass judgment on others…

First, verse 1 says to welcome people with different opinions, b/c – as the end of verse 3 says – God has welcomed him. If God is going to welcome people, who are we to reject them?

In other words: if God doesn’t have a problem, we shouldn’t have a problem!

Second, verse 4 says who are you to pass judgment?

We’re not the judge. People don’t stand before us. They aren’t our servants. We aren’t their masters.

A few verses later…

Romans 14:10 Why do you PASS JUDGMENT ON YOUR BROTHER? Or you, WHY DO YOU DESPISE YOUR BROTHER?

Again, passing judgment, despising.

And then again…

Romans 14:13a Therefore let us NOT PASS JUDGMENT ON ONE ANOTHER any longer

Again, don’t pass judgment on those with different convictions.

And you want to know what’s interesting?

It goes both ways!

Look at verse 3…

Let not the one who eats DESPISE THE ONE WHO ABSTAINS, and let not the one who abstains PASS JUDGMENT ON THE ONE WHO EATS.

It’s equally tempting for both sides to condemn the other.

The person with MORE liberty is tempted to condemn the person with LESS liberty and think:

He doesn’t understand his liberty in Christ, and what Jesus did for him.He’s legalistic and self-righteous.He probably thinks he’s better than me and looks down on me…while I’m looking down on him.

The person with LESS liberty is tempted to condemn the person with MORE liberty and think:

He is a liberal, carnal, compromising Christian!He doesn’t know what holiness is!He probably thinks he’s better than me and looks down on me…while I’m looking down on him.

If we’re going to learn from the Romans, we should ask ourselves…

Does knowledge cause us to condemn and look down on others?

Go ahead and turn back to 1 Corinthians 8.

Here’s the question…

What happens when we combine knowledge with pride, versus love?

Paul gives the answer in verse 2. We seem like know-it-alls…

1 Corinthians 8:2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

Notice Paul says IMAGINES he knows something versus knows something. He’s referring to people who think they know-it-all…versus people who actually know something.

When people think they know everything it’s evidence they don’t know as much as they think they know.

I said something like this in a sermon a couple weeks ago…

The only people who think they know everything are people who don’t know enough yet to know how little they know.

People who actually have knowledge know enough to know how little they know…they know they’re scratching the surface.

Don’t miss the connection to verse 1…

The pride and lack of love is evidence that we don’t know as much as we think we know.

If we knew as much as we thought we did, we’d know we should be humble and loving too.

Look what Paul says in verse 3 to help the Corinthians – and us – have the humility we should…

1 Corinthians 8:3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

This verse starts with the word but b/c Paul is making a contrast.

There are those in verse 2 who imagine they know something…but don’t have love and don’t know as much as they think they know.There are those in verse 3 who love God and are known by Him.

In other words:

It’s one thing to have knowledge, or to know something.It’s another thing to know God and be loved by Him.

More important than having knowledge is doing what pleases God, which means combining knowledge with love.

When we have knowledge without  love it’s evidence of spiritual immaturity, or evidence of weakness in our relationships with God.

Warren Wiersbe said, “A know-it-all attitude is evidence of ignorance. It is possible to grow in knowledge yet not grow in grace or one’s personal relationship with God.”

Now let me remind you about something from last week, so you can understand what’s happening in the following verses:

In verse 1 – regarding the first group – Paul said Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “ALL OF US POSSESS KNOWLEDGE.”In verse 7 – regarding the second group – he said not all possess this knowledge.

The people in verse 7 didn’t have the knowledge the people in verse 1 had, so we would expect Paul to tell the people with knowledge to straighten out the people without  knowledge, but he didn’t do that.

Now we need to talk about why this is the case, but we must have a biblical understanding of the conscience.

Turn one book to the left to Romans 2.

Here’s the context so this makes sense…

Paul is discussing two groups of people, the Gentiles and Jews, and they both think they’re good, or sinless, or free from judgment for different reasons.

The Gentiles think they’re free from judgment – or sinless – b/c they don’t have the law. They think they aren’t accountable b/c they didn’t know better! They never received a law telling them not to do something…which is true: the Ten Commandments, or Mosaic Law, was given to the Jews.

The Jews think they’re free from judgment – or sinless – b/c they DO have the law. They thought having the law meant they were good.

The problem with these groups thinking they’re sinless, or free from judgment, is it prevents them from seeing their need for a Savior.

So Paul wants to convince them they’re sinners.

Look at verse 12…

Romans 2:12a For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law,

Those without the law are Gentiles and Paul says they’ll perish, b/c they’re sinners. He’ll elaborate on this in verses 14 and 15.

Romans 2:12b and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

These are Jews who have the law, and they’ll be judged b/c…

Romans 2:13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

This might seem obvious to us, but apparently it wasn’t that obvious to the Jews: it’s not enough to simply have the law. You must obey it, which they didn’t do!

Having the law made them guiltier before God, not more righteous.

Why’s that?

The law told them right from wrong and increased their accountability.

Since the Gentiles didn’t receive the law they thought thy didn’t know right from wrong, which allowed them to be innocent, but look at verse 14 to see what condemns them…

Romans 2:14a For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires,

This means obey parts of the law. Even people who have never heard the Ten Commandments still recognize certain things – lying, stealing and murder – are wrong.

They’re able to choose between right and wrong, and they still choose wrong.

If you became a Christian later in life – like I did – you know that even though you didn’t know the Bible, you still knew certain things were wrong.

Before I became a Christian I knew plenty of things were wrong, but I did them anyway. That left me as guilty as before God as people who had the Law…b/c it was as though I had a law too…and that’s what the rest of the verse says…

Romans 2:14b they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

When people lie, cheat, steal, or murder, they’re disobeying their consciences, or breaking the law God gave them and…

Romans 2:15a They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while THEIR CONSCIENCE ALSO BEARS WITNESS, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

These are the two things our consciences do:

Accuse us when we do something wrong.Excuse us when we do something right.

Even though people have consciences telling them not to do certain things, they do them anyway, so they do something they know is wrong.

Verse 14 says their conscience is a law to [them], so they’re breaking the law they have, which leaves them as guilty as the Jews who break the Ten Commandments.

Now let me reveal the important connection to 1 Corinthians 8 by asking you a simple question…

Is it bad when people violate – or disobey – their conscience?

Yes. It’s sinful. It leaves them guilty before God.

Now another question…

If it’s bad for people to disobey their conscience, then how bad do you think it is to lead people to disobey their conscience?

Really bad!

And this brings us to the last part of Lesson 4…

Lesson 4: knowledge is used immorally when (part 3) stumbling others.

Turn back to 1 Corinthians 8 to see this is the point Paul makes. Look at verse 9.

1 Corinthians 8:9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?

So you have believers whose consciences forbid them from eating, but other believers convinced them to eat…and violate their conscience in the process.

This is a warning against using our knowledge to lead others to sin.

There are lots of words for sin in the Bible, such as transgress, trespass, abomination, and iniquity. Each word is meaningful, b/c they each describe different ways of sinning.

Stumble is another word for sin. It refers to believers using their knowledge to lead other believers to sin by violating their consciences.

Scripture uses the language of believers walking together. Picture that image.

Stumbling is when one believer trips another believer…but spiritually versus physically.

This is one of the worst ways to use knowledge immorally.

This resolves one of the questions that came up last week…

Why didn’t Paul tell the more knowledgeable believers to share their knowledge with the less knowledgeable believers?

It could cause them to sin by violating their consciences.

This is important to understand b/c we tend to think it’s a good thing to convince people to do things they think they shouldn’t do…but if their conscience forbids it, then they shouldn’t do it.

When we get people to do things they don’t want to do, we almost see it as a victory b/c we think we’re getting them to embrace their freedom and liberty in Christ, but Paul says it’s a failure, b/c it’s causing them sin.

Let me conclude with this…

The theme of this sermon is using our knowledge immorally, and it stems from pride.

Paul wanted to prevent the Corinthians from being prideful, so he gave them a great reason to be humble.

I want to share this to hopefully humble all of us.

Look back at verse 3…

If anyone loves God, [it’s b/c] he is known by God.

In other words:

We didn’t choose God. He chose us: John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you.It’s not that we loved God. It’s that He loves us: 1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us.

Basically, we have a relationship with God b/c He first had a relationship with us first: Romans 5:8 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

If we keep this in mind, it helps prevent pride and produces humility.

We recognize regardless of how much knowledge we have, we’re no better than the most ignorant person.

We’re all wretched sinners who need Christ.

Let’s pray.

Concerning Things Offered to Idols (1 Corinthians 8:1) – Using Knowledge Morally to Build Up Others

In 1 Corinthians 8:1 Paul writes, “Now concerning things offered to idols: we know that all of us possess knowledge. This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” We must understand the differences between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is like guns, money, and food in that it’s amoral (it’s simply information), but knowledge can be used in moral and immoral ways. This chapter reveals some ways the Corinthian used knowledge immorally, but could use it morally. The Corinthians were asking, “Should they eat meat sacrificed to idols?” But the chapter isn’t primarily about food or days of the week. Primarily the chapter teaches that we should use our knowledge morally in a loving way that builds up others.

“Concerning things offered to idols…Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). The Corinthians used their knowledge immorally versus morally.



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Table of ContentsSermon Lessons for Concerning Things Offered to IdolsFamily Worship Guide for Concerning Things Offered to IdolsSermon Notes for Concerning Things Offered to IdolsLesson 1: knowledge is amoral, but the way we use it is moral.Lesson 2: having knowledge doesn’t always mean determining who’s right and wrong.Lesson 3: ignorance is the absence of knowledge.Lesson 4: knowledge is used (part 1) morally when combined with love.



Sermon Lessons for Concerning Things Offered to Idols



Lesson 1: Knowledge is ____________, but the way we use it is __________. Lesson 2: ____________ __________________ doesn’t always mean determining who’s right and wrong (1 Cor 8:4-8; Rom 14:5). Lesson 3: ___________________ is the absence of __________________ (Rom 11:25; 1 Cor 12:1; 2 Cor 1:8; 1 Thes 4:13). Lesson 4: Knowledge is used (Part I) morally when combined ________ ________ (1 Cor 8:1; Eph 4:15; Phil 1:9).



Family Worship Guide for Concerning Things Offered to Idols



Day 1: Read 1 Cor 8 and discuss: Is knowledge moral, immoral, or amoral? Why? List some things that are moral, immoral, and amoral. Who are some people in history and in the Bible who used knowledge morally. What about immorally? Describe the situation in Corinth with meat sacrificed to idols and what the two sides believed. Day 2: Read Rom 14, 1 Cor 12:1; 2 Cor 1:8, 1 Thes 4:13 and discuss: What does it mean that some people had “weak consciences”? Is this a criticism of them? Why or why not? Would you or wouldn’t you eat the meat sacrificed to idols? Why or why not? How should you treat people who do the opposite of you? Why? Day 3: Read 1 Cor 8, Eph 4:15, Phil 1:9 and discuss: What does it mean to be ignorant? Should we always share knowledge with people? Why or why not? What makes someone a guest versus a pest? How do we know when we should or shouldn’t share our knowledge with others? What are some essentials? What are some nonessentials? What does it mean to combine knowledge with love? What does it look like when love is combined with knowledge? What about when it isn’t?



Sermon Notes for Concerning Things Offered to Idols

This morning we’ll be in 1 Corinthians 8.

The title of the sermon, on verses 1-8, is, “Using Knowledge Morally.”

The title of next Sunday’s sermon, on verses 9-13, is, “Using Knowledge Immorally.”

Last Sunday I shared that I wanted to begin a series on wisdom to help us navigate through trials and difficult circumstances.

I think we must understand the differences between knowledge and wisdom…and there’s no better place – at least in my opinion – to understand knowledge than 1 Corinthians 8.

Let me begin w/ a question, and I’ll give you a moment to think about the answer before I ask you to raise your hand…

Is knowledge itself:

MoralImmoralOr amoral

The answer brings us to Lesson 1…

Lesson 1: knowledge is amoral, but the way we use it is moral.

Many things are amoral, but the ways we use them are moral and immoral. For example:

Money is amoral, but the way we spend it is moral or immoral.Guns are amoral, but the ways we use them are moral and immoral.Food is amoral, but our relationship to it is moral. God doesn’t care what we eat, but He cares how much we eat b/c gluttony is a sin and He expects us to have self-control.

Similarly, knowledge is amoral, in that it’s simply information. But what we do w/ knowledge is moral and immoral. In other words, knowledge can be used in moral and immoral ways.

Here are some examples of moral uses of knowledge:

Jacob Perkins used his knowledge of mechanical engineering to invent refrigeration.The Wright Brothers used their knowledge of aviation to develop human flight.Tim Berners-Lee used his knowledge of computer programming to develop the World Wide Web.Isaac Newton used his knowledge of astronomy to promote creationism.

These people used the knowledge they acquired in moral ways that benefited humanity.

Other people have used their knowledge in immoral ways:

Genghis Khan used his knowledge of politics and war to lead a Mongol horde that killed millions of people.Karl Marx used his knowledge of law and philosophy to try to destroy capitalism and create a classless, communist society.Margaret Sanger used her knowledge of reproduction to establish organizations that evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.Richard Dawkins has used his knowledge of biology to promote atheism and the theory of evolution.

In this chapter we’re going to see some other ways knowledge can be used morally and immorally.

Let me give you the background to understand these verses since we’re jumping into the middle of this epistle…

1 Corinthians is mostly a collection of questions Paul answered for the Corinthian believers.

In chapter 8 he deals w/ a question that was dividing the church: “Should they eat meat sacrificed to idols?”

Here’s how this predicament developed…

The Greeks and Romans were polytheistic, which means they believed in many gods, and they were polydemonistic, which means they believed in many demons and evil spirits.

They believed the evil spirits would try to invade human bodies by attaching themselves to food before it was eaten, and the only way the evil spirits could be removed from the food was to sacrifice it to idols.

So food sacrificed to idols had two purposes:

First, to gain favor with the idol it was sacrificed toSecond, to cleanse the food from demonic contamination.

When the animal was sacrificed, some of it was burned on the altar…usually the fat b/c it put off the most smoke. The meat that was not burned on the altar was served at wicked, pagan feasts.

But sometimes all the meat wasn’t consumed, and so the rest of it was sold in the temple.

Since there was no refrigeration in those days the meat had to be consumed quickly, which meant it went right from being used in the worship of an idol to possibly sitting on the table of a believer.

Here’s something else that makes this even more interesting…

Since the meat that was sacrificed to idols wasn’t as attractive as meat that was NOT sacrificed to idols, it was offered at a lower price.

This led to two locations for meat to be sold:

There was the market where the meat that wasn’t sacrificed to idols was offered at regular prices.There was the temple where the meat sacrificed to idols was offered at lower prices.

Believers found themselves in two different groups.

The first group is in verses 4-6. Look there w/ me…

1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Notice Paul used the used the words we and us b/c he was in this first group. He knew better than anyone that idols aren’t real, and there’s only one God.

This first group would say…

“Demons don’t inhabit food, so we don’t have to worry about them contaminating it. Idols aren’t real – there’s no being named Zeus, or Hermes, or Mars – so whatever is offered to idols isn’t really offered to anything. I can go in an idol’s temple to buy meat, because it’s no different than any other meat except that it’s cheaper, which basically means I’m being a good steward of my finances if I buy it.”

This is the first group.

The second group is in verse 7…

1 Corinthians 8:7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

There were Jews and Gentiles in this second group:

The Jews thought idolatry was the worst sin, so they would have nothing to do w/ this meat b/c it had been sacrificed to idols. Plus, to buy it they’d have to go into an idol’s temple, and what godly Jew could do that w/ a good conscience?There were Gentiles who were new believers, which means some of them had been worshiping idols at these temples recently; therefore, they wanted to stay far away from the temples and the meat sacrificed at them b/c it reminded them of their previous pagan lives and demonic worship.

This second group would say…

“I don’t want anything to do w/ meat sacrificed to idols, and no believer should have anything to do w/ it. You could give it to me for free and I wouldn’t take it, and anyone who would is sinning.”

One more point about the second group…

In verse 7 notice Paul said they had weak consciences.

Unfortunately, some believers will say people:

People weak conscience are less maturePeople with strong consciences are more mature

But this isn’t true.

Having a weak conscience:

Isn’t a compliment or a criticismIt is isn’t a reflection of spiritual maturity or immaturity.It’s as amoral as food, money, guns, or knowledge.

To be perfectly clear, believers aren’t better or worse if they have strong or weak consciences.

Now let me explain something so you can appreciate how interesting this situation is…

In Paul’s day there was no printing press or photocopier, so when one of his letters reached a church the pastor would stand before his congregation and read it aloud.

Meat sacrificed to idols doesn’t sound like a big deal to us, but it was such a big deal to the Corinthians that because it was causing division in their church. In other words, there were people on both sides w/ very strong feelings.

And what do they want when Paul’s letter arrives?

They want Paul to side w/ them against the other side.They want Paul to say they’re right and the other side is wrong.Maybe they even want Paul to compliment them and rebuke the others.

So when the pastor is sharing the letter and he reads the words of verse 1 – “Now concerning food offered to idols,” you can be sure everyone sat up a little straighter and thought: “Here it is. I’ve been waiting for this. Tell us we’re right, and give it to those people who are wrong!”

Now one question before we read what Paul says…

Which group are you in?

Raise your hand if you would eat the meat sacrificed to idols.Raise your hand if you wouldn’t eat the meat sacrificed to idols.

When I went over this w/ my family, I asked my kids, and most of them said they would not eat.

Even when I told them the Apostle Paul – one of the greatest men to ever live – was in the first group, they still said they wouldn’t eat.

Me personally: I’m always looking for a good deal, so I’d eat.

Here’s what I can tell you…

It doesn’t matter which group you’re in.

You’re not better or worse, or more mature or less mature, or more spiritual or less spiritual, if you’re in one group instead of the other.

And this isn’t my opinion. Look at verse 8…

1 Corinthians 8:8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

I don’t want to go on a big detour here, so I’ll make this short: this is one of the many New Testament verses stating food is like knowledge: it’s amoral or spiritually neutral.

The main point is this…

Neither group is better or worse if they do or don’t eat meat sacrificed to idols. This means Paul didn’t say who’s right or wrong…and this brings us to Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: having knowledge doesn’t always mean determining who’s right and wrong.

Notice what Paul didn’t do:

He didn’t side w/ anyone…He didn’t commend one side or rebuke the other.He didn’t tell anyone to straighten out the others

And this isn’t the only time Paul responded in this way that I’m sure frustrated many people!

Some of you probably know 1 Corinthians 8 is similar to Romans 14:

In 1 Corinthians 8 they were arguing about meat sacrificed to idolsIn Romans 14 they were arguing about food and days of the week

I’m guessing the Romans were also waiting to hear from Paul so they could be told they were right and others were wrong, but listen to what he said…

Romans 14:5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

This is another instance of Paul not saying who’s right and wrong…and probably leaving some people disappointed.

And here’s the question…

Why didn’t he?

Because these are minor issues, or nonessentials…and when it comes to minor issues, or nonessentials, we can disagree.

And what does it mean to disagree?

It means allowing people to remain ignorant…not forcing your knowledge on them.

This isn’t my opinion. This is exactly what the text demonstrates!

Notice something…

In verse 7 Paul said not all possess this knowledge.

What knowledge?

The knowledge that the idols are nothing.The knowledge that they can eat the meat sacrificed to them.

Since these people didn’t have knowledge of these things – biblically speaking – we would say they’re…what?

Ignorant.

You’re almost reluctant to say it, b/c the word has such a negative connotation in English. Nobody wants to be called ignorant. If someone said you’re ignorant, you’d probably feel insulted.

But in Scripture, Paul told people they were ignorant, and they weren’t insulted, b/c it simply means they didn’t know.

The words not all possess this knowledge is a concise definition of ignorance: not possessing knowledge

We almost think of ignorance as the opposite of wisdom, but foolishness is the opposite of wisdom.

The opposite of ignorance is knowledgeable…and this brings us to Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: ignorance is the absence of knowledge.

Throughout Scripture, when people were ignorant, Paul gave them knowledge so they wouldn’t remain ignorant.

Listen to these verses:

Romans 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery – so then he explained the mystery to them.1 Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant – so then he taught them about spiritual gifts.2 Corinthians 1:8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia – so then he explained their trouble.1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. Then he explained what happened to those who fell asleep.

There were many times people were ignorant and Paul cured them of their ignorance by giving them knowledge…but in this case he didn’t!

Notice something:

In verse 7 – regarding the second group – he said not all possess this knowledge.In verse 1 – regarding the first group – he said Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “ALL OF US POSSESS KNOWLEDGE.”

What knowledge did the first group have?

The knowledge Paul described in verses 4-6 that:

False gods – or idols – are nothing.The meat sacrificed to them can be eaten.

Basically they had the knowledge the second didn’t have, or that the second group was ignorant of.

Considering Paul shared knowledge with people many times when they were ignorant, what would you expect Paul to say to the first group?

“ You need to straighten them out! Give them the knowledge they need. Don’t let them walk around in ignorance.”

But Paul didn’t tell the first group to share their knowledge w/ the second group.

In other words, he told the knowledgeable people to allow the ignorant people to remain ignorant.

This is what we see:

Sometimes Paul shared knowledge w/ people so they wouldn’t remain ignorantOther times he didn’t share knowledge w/ people, so they could remain ignorant, or as he said in Romans 14:5 so they could remain fully convinced in [their] own [minds]

If we follow Paul’s example:

Sometimes we should share knowledge w/ peopleSometimes we should allow them to remain ignorant.

The obvious question is: how do know when to take each approach?

I’ll give you two encouragements…

First, strive to be a guest versus a pest:

Guests are invitedPests are not invitedIf people ask for your thoughts, you’ve been invited, and you can share as a guestIf people don’t ask for your thoughts, you haven’t been invited, but if you share anyway, you’ll be a pest

Consider whether people want to hear your thoughts on nonessentials or amoral issues.

And this brings a little balance to the discussion…

If we’re asked – or invited – about our liberties and freedoms we should be willing to answer those questions and explain why we believe the way we do. If we’re a guest our answer might help a brother or sister in Christ.

I’ve learned a lot in my Christian life from wise people God has put around me. I appreciate when they’ve been patient w/ me and taken time to answer my questions. It’s helped me grow in my faith.

And this leads us to the second encouragement…

Consider what is:

Essential, or moral, or spiritualVersus nonessential, or amoral, or non-spiritual

If you look at the times Paul said, “I do not want you to be ignorant,” he was dealing essentials, or hills to die on, or important things for people to know.

But in 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14 Paul was dealing w/ food and days of the week.

Since these are nonessentials, it’s only important for people to be fully convinced in their own minds.

Some years ago Dave Zumstein shared something w/ me that didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but since then I’ve realized how true it is…

He said, “The problem w/ essentials and nonessentials, is people don’t agree what’s essential versus nonessential.”

Can you see why this is problematic?

I said we shouldn’t try to share w/ people if something is a nonessential, but if some people think it is an essential they are going to try to share w/ people who think it’s a nonessential, probably don’t want to listen to them, and it usually causes problems:

The people who think it’s a nonessential are going to be annoyed by the people who keep trying to share w/ them…when they didn’t ask…which means they think the people talking to them are pests.The people who think it’s an essential are going to be annoyed by the people who think it’s a nonessential and therefore don’t want to have to keep listening to them talk about the same thing…again…and again.

So we should consider two things…

First, have I already talked to someone about something? If I talk to them about it again, I’m almost guaranteed to be a pest.

Second, this is important to me, but is it important to others, and most importantly is it important to God?

Up to this point, here’s what we can see…

It’s not about who’s right and wrong, and it’s not about making sure we share our knowledge w/ everyone around us.

So what is it about?

I’m glad you asked.

Look back at verse 1…

1 Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.

Notice the words love builds up. You could say this is what it’s about.

Paul tells the knowledgeable people to use their knowledge in moral, loving ways that build up…and this brings us to Lesson 4…

Lesson 4: knowledge is used (part 1) morally when combined with love.

You might notice there’s no Part II, b/c that’s in next week’s sermon.

Here’s the famous quote…

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love.”

Listen to the way verse 1 reads in the Amplified Bible…

1 Corinthians 8:1 Now about food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge [concerning this]. Knowledge [alone – in other words: knowledge without love] makes [people self-righteously] arrogant, but love [that unselfishly seeks the best for others] builds up and encourages others to grow [in wisdom].

To use knowledge morally it must be combined w/ love.

Both are bad:

It’s bad to have knowledge without loveIt’s bad to have love without knowledge.

Paul made this point:

He talked about combining truth – or knowledge – w/ love, such as: Ephesians 4:15 Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.He talked about combining love w/ knowledge: Phil 1:9 It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment

Some of the Corinthians had knowledge, but they didn’t have love:

They should’ve used their knowledge to build each other up.Because they lacked love, they used their knowledge to tear each other down.

When we say the right thing – or we share knowledge – but we lack love, we say it harshly.

And when we say the right thing the wrong way, it becomes the wrong thing…I’ve learned this the hard way.

Years ago I was driving in a car w/ three friends. I mention we were in a car so you can picture an environment that prevents anyone from getting up and walking away from the conversation.

We began a discussion that escalated to a disagreement, then a debate, then an argument, and then a quarrel. One of the individuals said something, and I thought two things:

That is articulate, absolutely true, and very convincing.He said that very harshly and unlovingly.

He was right, but he was wrong. Nobody spoke the rest of the car ride.

1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14 aren’t primarily about food or days of the week. You can take away from both chapters that it doesn’t matter what you eat, and that no day is better than another day, but that’s not what the chapters are primarily about.

Primarily they’re about this:

First, we should use our knowledge morally, which means using it in a loving way that builds up others…this is what we talked about this morning.Second, we shouldn’t use our knowledge in an immoral way that tears down others…and we’ll talk about this more next week.

Let me conclude w/ this…

It looks like Paul didn’t say who’s right and who’s wrong…but he did:

The people who are right are those who use their knowledge in loving ways that build up. If Paul is going to commend and compliment anyone it’s these people.The people who are wrong are those who use their knowledge in obnoxious, unloving ways that tear others down. If Paul is going to condemn and criticize anyone it’s these people.  

In other words, the side that’s right is the side that’s loving toward those w/ different opinions. The side that’s wrong is the side that’s unloving toward those w/ different opinions.

Let’s pray.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments for This is the Whole Duty of Man (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

In Ecclesiastes 12:13 Solomon said, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Everything’s been considered and Solomon meant it. He tried, tasted, and experienced anything you could try, taste, and experience. He wrestled with the most important issues of life throughout the book, and finally reached this conclusion. The wisest man who ever lived – second only to Christ – tells us what life is about: fearing God and obeying His commandments.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Solomon tried everything so he knew.



Receive a FREE copy of Pastor Scott LaPierre’s book,  Seven Biblical Insights for Healthy, Joyful, Christ-Centered Marriages .View all Pastor Scott’s books on my Amazon author page.Visit Scott LaPierre’s speaking page for conference and speaking information, including testimonies, endorsements, and contact info.



Table of ContentsLessons for Fear God and Keep His Commandments for This is the Whole Duty of ManFamily Worship Guide for Fear God and Keep His Commandments for This is the Whole Duty of ManSermon Notes for Fear God and Keep His Commandments for This is the Whole Duty of ManLesson 1: meaning in life is found in fearing and obeying God.Lesson 2: fear of God produces obedience.Lesson 3: lack of fear of God produces disobedience.Lesson 4: God’s judgment puts this life in perspective.



Lessons for Fear God and Keep His Commandments for This is the Whole Duty of Man



Lesson 1: Meaning in life is found in ______________ and _______________ God (Ecc 12:13; Pro 1:7 cf. Matt 10:28, 22:37, John 14:15, Isa 8:11-13). Lesson 2: Fear of God ________________ __________________ (Psa 112:1, 128:1; Gen 22:1-2, 11-12; Exo 1:16-17; Exo 20:18-20; Deut 8:6, 31:12; Jer 2:19, 32:40). Lesson 3: Lack of fear of God ________________ ______________________ (Exo 9:27-29; 1 Sam 15:24). Lesson 4: __________ ________________ puts this life in perspective (Ecc 12:14; 2 Cor 5:10; Rom 2:16; John 5:24; Rom 8:1).



Family Worship Guide for Fear God and Keep His Commandments for This is the Whole Duty of Man



Day 1: Read Ecc 12:13; Pro 1:7 cf. Matt 10:28, 22:37, John 14:15, Isa 8:11-13 and discuss: Based on the Book of Ecclesiastes, where is meaning and satisfaction in life not found? In other words, where did Solomon look before coming to his conclusion? Why did he come to the conclusion that we read at the end of the book? Day 2: Read Psa 112:1, 128:1; Gen 22:1-2, 11-12; Exo 1:16-17; Exo 20:18-20; Deut 8:6, 31:12; Jer 2:19, 32:40 and discuss: Why does the fear of God produce obedience? Pastor Scott gave some examples of people obeying God because they feared Him. Can you think of some other examples? Do we obey God because we love Him, fear Him, or both? Day 3: Read Exo 9:27-29; 1 Sam 15:24 and discuss: Why does the lack of fear of God produce disobedience? Pastor Scott gave some examples of people disobeying God because they didn’t fear Him. Can you think of some other examples? Do people disobey God because they don’t love Him, don’t fear Him, or both? Day 4: Read Ecc 12:14; 2 Cor 5:10; Rom 2:16; John 5:24; Rom 8:1 and discuss: How does God’s judgment put this life in perspective? What can seem big in this life, but becomes small when considering standing before God? How are believers judged? If our sins are judged on the cross, then what is left to be judged?



Sermon Notes for Fear God and Keep His Commandments for This is the Whole Duty of Man

This will be our last sermon on Ecclesiastes 12 and it will transition us into some sermons I’d like to preach on wisdom.

Look at verse 12…

Ecclesiastes 12:12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

We looked at this over two sermons.

The Book of Ecclesiastes is a fitting picture of the end of the end of this verse. Solomon said much study is a weariness of the flesh, and if you’re familiar w/ Ecclesiastes, you know Solomon seemed very weary as he tried to find meaning in life.

After all the weariness he experienced throughout the book, look what he finally says in verse 13…

Ecclesiastes 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

He said all has been heard – or everything’s been considered – and he meant it. He tried, tasted, and experienced anything you could try, taste, and experience.

When he said this is the end of the matter, this is a pretty big deal, b/c Solomon wrestled with the most important issues of life, and he finally reached his conclusion.

The wisest man who ever lived – second only to Christ – is about to tell us what life is about. This is one of those moments you just want everyone to be quiet so they can hear what he has to say.

Everything has been very fragmented for Solomon. He’s been confused throughout the earlier chapters, unable to make sense of this life, but now he can finally share what he’s learned after all his searching. All his uncertainties are behind him, and it boils down to this…

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Let me get you to think about something that reveals why these words are so dramatic…

The main question Solomon’s been wrestling with is: “How does man experience satisfaction and fulfillment in life?” or as he frequently says, “Under the sun?”

He considered what this world offers physically:

MoneyPowerKnowledgeRelationshipsPartiesGardensPossessionsFame

But when He figured out what’s important – when he finally learned how to experience satisfaction in this life – he didn’t mention anything physical.

He said fear God and keep His commandments, which is spiritual.

And this brings us to Lesson 1…

Lesson 1: meaning in life is found in fearing and obeying God.

Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes and most of Proverbs.

Although they’re separate books, I want to invite you to see a close relationship between them. You can almost think of them as one book w/ Proverbs picking up where Ecclesiastes left off.

Here’s why I say this…

Solomon concludes Ecclesiastes by saying we should fear God, and this is where Proverbs picks up…

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Solomon probably wrote Ecclesiastes at the end of his life, which means that’s when he finally showed himself to be wise.

What does it mean to fear God?

It means having an attitude of reverence and awe toward Him b/c we respect His power and greatness, and – as the next verse says – we know He’s going to judge us.

Some people might look at this and say, “Well, this is Old Covenant. Judgment. Wrath. Anger. Of course we’re told to fear God and keep His commandments. But we’re under the New Covenant. Grace. Mercy. Forgiveness.”

The problem is Jesus – who is the Mediator of the New Covenant – said the same thing…

Matthew 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Regarding [keeping] his commandments, Jesus said…

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

It is as fitting for us to fear God and keep His commandments in our day as it was in Solomon’s day when he wrote these words.

Notice Solomon said this is the whole duty of man.

When I first looked at this, I found it very surprising. I thought, “This is it? This is my whole duty? I have all these responsibilities. I have so many things to do and keep track of. How can my whole duty be bound up in fearing God and obeying Him?”

Then I found this very encouraging, b/c it provides such beautiful simplicity for us.

We live in such a confusing and chaotic time, I hope it can bless you too.

In the two sermons on the previous verses we talked about the overwhelming amount of information coming at us daily:

All the informationAll the newsAll the opinionsAll the voices

 We can start to feel confused about what we should and shouldn’t do. Do I listen to:

The article, or Facebook post, or blog I read…The advice from my friend…The interview or podcast I heard…The YouTube video I watched…

For the person who fears God, they figure out what to do by asking one question: “What does God want me to do?”

That’s very simplifying isn’t it?

In the prophet Isaiah’s day there were lots of conspiracies circulating around…just like in our day.

Listen to what God said is the remedy…

Isaiah 8:11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

Isaiah told them to take their minds off the conspiracies, and put their minds on Him. If they feared Him it would drown out all the conspiracies.

So let me encourage you…

When you start to feel weary as we talked about in the other two sermons come back to this one thing that your whole duty is found in fearing God and keeping His commandments.

It might look like fearing God and keeping His commandments are two separate things, but they go together…and this brings us to Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: fear of God produces obedience.

Psalm 112:1 Blessed is the man who fears [God], who greatly delights in his commandments!

Keeping God’s commandments is the fruit of fearing Him.

Let me give you a few examples from Scripture. Mark your spot in Ecclesiastes as we’ll come back to it and turn to Gen 22…

Genesis 22:2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Since God commanded Abraham to sacrifice the son he loved we’d think that Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac for God, b/c he loved God so much…even more than the son he loved.

But look at verse 11 to see what the Angel said when he stopped Abraham…

Genesis 22:11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that YOU FEAR GOD, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

Interestingly, Abraham’s fear of God caused him to obey.

Turn to Exo 1.

The Hebrew midwives are another example. When the nation of Israel multiplied in Egypt, Pharaoh became afraid of them. He commanded the Hebrew midwives:

Exodus 1:16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the MIDWIVES FEARED GOD and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.

The Hebrew midwives obeyed God b/c they feared Him…more than they feared Pharaoh.

Turn to Exo 20.

God brought Israel to the base of Sinai. Considering everything He did to get them to this point—such as delivering them from Egypt and parting the Red Sea—we would expect Him to be friendly and welcoming.

Instead, listen to this…

Exodus 20:18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

God was so terrifying they thought His voice would kill them.

Look at verse 20 to see Moses explain God’s motivation…

Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, THAT THE FEAR OF HIM MAY BE BEFORE YOU, THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN.”

Moses told Israel their fear of God was good, b/c it would cause them to obey.

I don’t want you to have to flip to the rest of these examples, so I’ll just read them to you…

When Moses gave the law to the new generation, he established the relationship between fear of God and obedience…

Deuteronomy 8:6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.

Walking in God’s ways is synonymous with obedience, and it’s produced by fearing Him.

The psalmist said something similar…

Psalm 128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!

Fear of God and obedience to God go together.

Deuteronomy 31:12 Assemble the people…that they may hear and LEARN TO FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND BE CAREFUL TO DO ALL THE WORDS OF THIS LAW,

If they learned to fear God, they would be careful to obey Him.

During Jeremiah’s day the people forsook God. I would think they forsook Him b/c they didn’t love Him, but listen to what God said…

Jeremiah 2:19 Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to FORSAKE THE LORD YOUR GOD; THE FEAR OF ME IS NOT IN YOU, declares the Lord God of hosts.

God said Israel abandoned Him because they didn’t fear Him.

And again…

Jeremiah 32:40 I will put the fear of Me in their hearts, that they may not turn from Me.

We tend to think people forsake God b/c they don’t love Him, but God said it’s b/c they didn’t fear Him.

Love might keep God’s people near Him, but fear keeps them from departing from Him.

David Wilkerson said…

“What produces a consistent, lasting obedience? I am convinced that godly, loving obedience springs from one source: the fear of the living God! I’m going to make a very bold statement: I believe it is impossible to consistently walk in obedience and holiness unless you have the fear of God in your heart. If you don’t have the fear of God, you will eventually believe that God is easy on sin. You’ll think that you can sin all you want. You’ll get on a merry-go-round of ‘sin, confess, sin, confess’—and you’ll say to yourself, ‘I’ll just run back to Jesus and make it right. He’ll forgive me at any moment!’”

Wilkerson, David. “Love, Fear, and Obedience.” World Challenge. August 17, 1992.

If fear of God produces obedience, then this tells us something about disobedience…and this brings us to Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: lack of fear of God produces disobedience.

The other side of this is we disobey God when we don’t fear Him.

Sometimes you’ll meet people and they say they love God, they say they fear Him, but their lives are characterized by disobedience. Regardless of what they say, they don’t fear God.

Let me show you two examples…

Exodus 9:27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you DO NOT YET FEAR THE LORD GOD.”

Moses said he would bring the plague to an end, but he also knew Pharaoh would return to his old ways – he would repent of his repentance – and disobey – b/c he didn’t fear God.

Saul is another good example…

God commanded him to utterly destroy [the Amalekites and] all that belonged to them, but he only destroyed what he didn’t want, and kept what he did want.

God sent Samuel to rebuke him, and listen to Saul’s excuse…

1 Samuel 15:24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I FEARED THE PEOPLE AND OBEYED THEIR VOICE.

Saul obeyed the people because he feared them more than God.

Whatever we fear has power over us:

If we fear God, we will obey Him.If we fear man, we will obey man.

Since fear of God is so important, how do we develop it?

We do two things…

First, we read God’s Word b/c fear of God comes from knowledge of God. The greater our knowledge of God, the greater our fear of God…

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

We develop fear of God by learning about Him, and we learn about Him in His Word.

Rare is the person who can read about the God of the Bible and not fear Him.

The second thing we can do to develop fear of God is remember the truth of verse 14…

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

This is a great reason to fear God and obey Him…and this brings us to lesson 4…

Lesson 4: God’s judgment puts this life in perspective.

We learn to fear God by keeping this truth in mind that all of our lives will be reviewed by the Lord.

Paul said something similar to verse 14…almost word-for-word…

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Paul said we b/c he’s including believers. This might surprise some people, b/c we tend to think believers aren’t judged, but we are…we give an account of our faithfulness.

The fact that evil we have done is mentioned leads me to believe the sins we have committed will result in loss of rewards. So: 

If you say, “I won’t be punished for my sins,” that’s true…b/c our sins were punished on the cross.But it’s also true that when we sin we forfeit eternal rewards. 

We might think the discussion of judgment is opposed to the Gospel, but…

Romans 2:16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Judgment is Gospel-centered, b/c w/o judgment there is no Gospel…there’s no good news w/o the bad news.

Here’s what I’d like you to consider…

Some things in life seem huge:

Maybe it’s the CoronavirusMaybe it’s the quarantineMaybe it’s the rioting and lootingMaybe it’s financial problemsMaybe it’s health issues

But I can tell you this w/ complete certainty…

We’re going to stand before the Lord someday, and all these things – and anything else we can imagine – will seem very, very small. All that will matter is what we have done, whether good or evil.

God’s judgment puts this life in perspective. The certainty and finality of it gives life the meaning Solomon had been searching for.

To understand this in context, here’s what Solomon is saying…

“I was looking for meaning in life from wealth, partying, possessions, pleasure, but I found it in recognizing we will stand before the Lord and give an account. Whatever we have or don’t have, whatever we experience or don’t experience, knowing we will be judged puts everything in perspective, b/c accountability before God is eternal and irrevocable.”

When considering this reality, only a fool doesn’t fear God and obey Him.

Ultimately the only way to find meaning in this meaningless life under the sun is by keeping our focus on the One who is beyond life under the sun, and that’s God Himself. Everything under the sun will eventually disappoint. Relationship w/ the Lord gives us the meaning, hope, and perspective we need.

Let me close w/ this…

Back in verse 14 it says…

God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing,

The is exhaustive…

It doesn’t say

Most deeds and most secret thingsIt says every deed and every secret thing

It couldn’t be clearer that nothing escapes God’s judgment.

All of us have done things we’re ashamed of that we don’t want judged, and that we’d like to remain secret.

If you’ve repented of your sins and put your faith in Christ, then those things will remain secret, b/c they were judged by Christ on the cross:

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Those who fear God will be vindicated on the day of judgment, b/c they’re already declared right by faith.

God will condemn the unrepentant, but vindicate the repentant.

Oswald Chambers wrote, “The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else.”

Let’s pray.

Christian Encouragement from the Bible for Difficult Times – Why We Might Be Weary and What We Can Do About It – Part 2

Christian encouragement from the Bible for difficult times is needed. This is part two of Pastor Scott’s discussion on why we might be weary and what we can do about it. Ecclesiastes 12:12 says, “My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” The Christian life is one of balance, and the news is one example of needed balance. We should be informed. We should know what’s going on and strive to have accurate information. We should study. But as verse 12 says much study is a weariness of the flesh and makes difficult times even worse. There’s a downside to too much news without the needed Christian encouragement. We need to be careful how much we’re consuming.

Christian encouragement from the Bible for difficult times is needed. This is part two of Pastor Scott’s discussion on why we might be weary.



Receive a FREE copy of Pastor Scott LaPierre’s book,  Seven Biblical Insights for Healthy, Joyful, Christ-Centered Marriages .View all Pastor Scott’s books on my Amazon author page.Visit Scott LaPierre’s speaking page for conference and speaking information, including testimonies, endorsements, and contact info.



Table of ContentsSample Lessons for Christian Encouragement from the Bible for Difficult TimesFamily Worship Guide for Christian Encouragement from the Bible for Difficult TimesSermon Notes for Christian Encouragement from the Bible for Difficult TimesLesson 1: God’s Word is like a (part 1) goad that directs.Lesson 1: God’s Word is like a (part 2) stake that protects.Lesson 2: man’s words can be (part 1) untrustworthy.Lesson 2: man’s words can be (part 2) overwhelming.Lesson 2: man’s words can be (part 3) wearying.Lesson 3: we are the falling man.



Sample Lessons for Christian Encouragement from the Bible for Difficult Times

Note: Lesson 1 and Parts I and II of Lesson 2 are from Part I.

Lesson 1: God’s Word is like a:(Part I) Goad that directs (Ecc 12:11a; Psa 23:1, 80:1; John 10:11; Heb 13:20; 1 Pet 2:25, 5:4; Matt 12:42).(Part II) Stake that protects (Ecc 12:11b; Psa 119:89; Isa 40:8; 1 Pet 1:24; Matt 24:35). Lesson 2: Man’s words can be:(Part I) Untrustworthy (Ecc 12:12a).(Part II) Overwhelming (Ecc 12:12b).(Part III) _________________ (Lam 2:18, 3:49-50; John 16:33). Lesson 3: We are the ______________ ______ (2 Thes 1:8-9; John 10:28).



Family Worship Guide for Christian Encouragement from the Bible for Difficult Times



Day 1: Ecclesiastes 12:9-12 and discuss: How is God’s Word like an ox goad? How is it like a stake? What verses can you think of that support this? How are man’s words untrustworthy and overwhelming? Where did Solomon say the words of the wise come from? Why is it important to know where wisdom comes from? Day 2: Read Lamentations 2:18, 3:49-50 and John 16:33 and discuss: Why was Jeremiah’s ministry so difficult, i.e. what did he experience and see? How are we affected by pictures, videos, and news? Why does the news follow, “If it bleeds it leads”? How and why is news wearying? What can you do to avoid being wearied by the news? Since Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation,” what does this mean for us regarding the news now and in the future? Day 3: Read 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 and John 10:28 and discuss: How are we like the falling man? How are we not like the falling man, or in other words, how can we avoid the despair he must’ve experienced even though we’re “falling” too? What awaits those who don’t know God? What does Jesus offer and how is it received? How can these truths give us hope despite the despair the world throws at us?



Sermon Notes for Christian Encouragement from the Bible for Difficult Times

A few weeks ago, I preached Part I, planned to preach Part II the following Sunday, but felt obligated to preach the sermons explaining what we were doing as a church.

With those sermons over I can preach Part II.

Since it’s been a few weeks I’d like to briefly review. I left the lessons from Part I in your worship guides.

Look at verse 9…

Ecclesiastes 12:9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

The Preacher is Solomon and we have many of his proverbs in the Book of Proverbs.

Ecclesiastes 12:11 The words of the wise (referring to Scripture) are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

Verses 9 and 10 discuss Solomon – the Preacher – who sounds really good:

He’s wise: he taught the people knowledge and created proverbsHe sought to find words of delight and he wrote words of truth.

So you’d expect him to say the words of the wise came from him, but he said they’re given by one Shepherd.

Who’s this Shepherd?

In the OT the shepherd is identified as God: Psa 23:1 The Lord is my Shepherd.In the NT the Shepherd comes into focus and we see it’s Jesus: John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

The greatest wisdom comes from Jesus, b/c despite how wise Solomon was in Matt 12:42 [Jesus said], “The queen of the South…came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here,” referring to Himself.

If you briefly look back at verse 11 the Shepherd’s wise words – or the Word of God – are fittingly compared w/ two shepherds’ tools: goads and nails firmly fixed…and this brings us to Lesson 1…

Lesson 1: God’s Word is like a (part 1) goad that directs.

Goads were long sticks w/ points on the end:

Shepherds used them to poke animals and move them in the right direction…just like God’s Word pokes us and moves us in the right direction.Goads stung…just like God’s Word can sometimes sting

Second, in verse 11 the wise words are compared w/ nails firmly fixed…and this brings us to the next part of Lesson 1…

Lesson 1: God’s Word is like a (part 2) stake that protects.

The nails firmly fixed are stakes shepherds used to secure animals who might wander off into dangerous territory

You can guess that animals wouldn’t like this, but it protected them…just like we might not like everything God’s Word says, but it protects us from wandering into dangerous territoryThe nails would keep the animals in place – fixed – and that’s what God’s Word does for us…it keeps us fixed.

Notice it says the nails are firmly fixed, which communicates that they’re unmovable, or unchangeable…just like God’s Word.

Psalm 119:89 Forever, O Lord, your word is FIRMLY FIXED in the heavens.

But unlike God’s Word, look what Solomon says about man’s words…

Ecclesiastes 12:12a My son, beware of anything beyond these.

When Solomon says these he’s referring to the words of the wise in verse 11 which is God’s Word.

So it’s as though Solomon says beware of anything beyond [God’s Word].

What is beyond [God’s Word]?

Man’s words!

So the question is…

Why would Solomon tell us to beware of anything beyond God’s Word?

Because man’s words can be untrustworthy…and this brings us to Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: man’s words can be (part 1) untrustworthy.

Two of the most important factors for determining the value of information are:

Accuracy: if it’s inaccurate, how valuable is it?Second, if it’s unchanging: if you can’t trust information tomorrow, next week, or next month, how valuable is it?

The reason I mention this is much of the information we receive from man is untrustworthy b/c it’s inaccurate and changing.

The next part of Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: man’s words can be (part 2) overwhelming.

Look at the second half of verse 12…

Ecclesiastes 12:12b Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Solomon’s point is there was a lot of information in his day and it was overwhelming.

If Solomon could say this – when there was no printing press, Internet, television, radio, and only a fraction of the books we have – what would he say if he lived in our day?

And the new part for this morning…

Lesson 2: man’s words can be (part 3) wearying.

We’re going to be talking specifically about the news and why it can be wearying.

This is the part of the lesson we’ve been building up to, b/c this is what made me want to look at these verses in the first place…the news can be very wearying.

Let me give you an account from Scripture that illustrates what Solomon is saying in Ecclesiastes…

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet b/c he watched Babylonians come and:

Attack JerusalemDestroy the templeDrag the Jews into Babylon

This would’ve been enough to cause anyone to weep.

He wrote about what he saw in the Book of Lamentations…and listen to what he said…

Lamentations 2:18 Their heart cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, YOUR EYES NO RESPITE!

He said the people would give themselves no rest b/c of all the horrors they saw.

Listen to these verses…

Lamentations 3:49 “MY EYES WILL FLOW WITHOUT CEASING, WITHOUT RESPITE, 50 until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees; 51 MY EYES CAUSE ME GRIEF at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

Jeremiah said his eyes were causing him pain – or grief – b/c of all the suffering he witnessed.

He was in a unique position…

Most people throughout the OT heard about the suffering others experienced. But Jeremiah witnessed it firsthand…and it really, really, affected him…it affected him mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically.

For most of human history people simply heard or read what happened:

There was a herald – or crier – who stood in the middle of the town square yelling the news. This was the closest to a local news station.People also heard stories from friendsThey might see paintings or drawings

Even when things sounded really, really bad there was always this encouraging thought that they couldn’t be as bad as they seemed. Things were being exaggerated for dramatic effect.

Now fast-forward 2,600 years…

In the 1820s photographs were developed. Suddenly, news could be accompanied by photos. Now instead of only hearing what happened, you could see what happened.

The saying is, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Whatever we see is going to be considerably more impactful than something we read or hear about.

This is why Jeremiah was so devastated in his day. He didn’t hear about what happened. He saw what happened.

Now fast-forward 120 years…

In the 1940s videos became prominent.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, how many words is a video worth?

Now people weren’t just hearing, reading, or seeing pictures of the news. They were watching videos of events.

Image how much that affected people?

And here’s the problem…

The common saying in news is this…

“If it bleeds, it leads.”

This is why so much of the news is crime, violence, and political division.

The news wouldn’t be that bad if it showed some number of:

Positive storiesEncouraging eventsUplifting accounts

But news agencies – more than anything else – are businesses, which means they want to make money…which means they’re going to report the news that gets the most views…which means they’re going to show bad news b/c it’s more popular than good news.

And here’s what you need to know…

All of this negative news has negative affects on us.

A study published in the British Journal of Psychology, found that the negative effects of watching bad news occurred after only 14 minutes.

This means you could be feeling fine, but you watch bad news, and within minutes your mood is ruined and you’re suffering the consequences.

Let me give you some examples that most of you will be familiar with…

Think of the Boston Marathon bombing.

During the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, two bombs detonated near the finish line of the race, killing 3 people and injuring several hundred others. Since this was a popular event, there were lots of videos available, whether from the agencies covering the event, or people simply recording w/ their phones.

Listen to this…

There was a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that found that people who watched hours per day of news covering the bombing had WORSE ACUTE STRESS SYMPTOMS than people who were present at, or near, the bombing site.

Think about September 11th…but I’d like to try a different approach…

Imagine someone told you, “Terrorists hijacked planes and flew them into the Twin Towers and the towers collapsed.” You would say, “This is horrible.”

Now imagine someone showed you a picture of the towers collapsing you’d probably be shocked and put your hand over your mouth.

Now imagine you watched videos of:

The planes crashing into the buildingsThe buildings collapsingAll the people on the ground running and screaming for their livesAll the fear and terror

How much worse would this be than hearing it described or seeing a picture?

This is why – if you’re like me and most people – you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing – not when you heard about the attacks or saw pictures of them, but watched videos of the horror…and you can probably remember the strong response they evoked.

I was living in Woodland, CA – yes I’ve lived in two different Woodlands in my life – and I was working nights at a distribution center for Target. So I wasn’t awake when the attacks took place in the morning. My mom called me and said, “You’ve got to turn on the news.”

I turned it on and I still remember the vivid videos.

And I watched them over…and over…and over.

I switched to another channel, and another channel, and another channel, and another channel, and they were all showing the same thing…b/c if it bleeds it leads.

Listen to this…

There were studies done following the September 11th attack revealing that watching repeated news coverage of the event triggered post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in viewers.

Why is the news so devastating?

We put ourselves in the places of the people:

We imagine ourselves standing at the end of the Boston Marathon when the bombs went offWe imagine ourselves trapped in the Twin Towers w/ flames climbing up and no way to escape

It is impossible to stay detached:

Our hearts start racingOur blood pressure risesWe’re filled w/ anxiety

This past week some police officers murdered a man named George Floyd.

I started to watch the video, but I had to stop b/c it was too much for me.

Why?

I imagined what it was like for him to be handcuffed, pinned to the ground, unable to breathe…feeling his life escaping his body.

Now the news of his death is followed up by all the videos of:

The riotingThe violenceThe flames from burning buildings

Katie was checking in on a woman in the church. She said, “How are you doing?”

The woman said – and Katie got permission for me to share this…

“I’m okay. I was crying this morning about George Floyd…and I watched a thing about Jeffery Epstein. Feeling like the world is a very dark and depressing place.”

This is what the news can create.

And there’s something that makes this even worse…

Since news agencies want the most dramatic stories they’re tempted to make things look worse than they are.

They’ll engage in what I call honest dishonesty…honest dishonesty.

Honest dishonesty is when people present facts – they’re honest – but they present them in such a way – often by leaving out important details – that lead people to inaccurate conclusions…which is dishonest.

Here’s something that happened recently…

On March 25th – which could be considered very close to the middle of the greatest fear associated w/ the Coronavirus – CBS News aired footage of a hospital in New York. The hospital looked crowded, overwhelmed, devastated, desperate. It was the kind of video that made you think if hospitals look like this across the country, the Coronavirus is going to bring about the end of the world.

Later it was revealed that it was footage of an Italian hospital. Since Italy was the most devastated country by the disease, they couldn’t have chosen a worse hospital to show everyone.

So…

In the middle of a crisis when people are already in a panic and the media needs to give accurate information, they show something sensational and deceiving.

Here’s what’s interesting…

You would think that because news makes people feel bad that they would want to avoid watching it, but the opposite is true. It can become addictive.

People will watch hours of it…even though it’s negatively affecting them.

Dr. Carole Lieberman is a psychiatrist who focuses on the media’s role in mental health disorders. She’s been studying the current crisis and she coined the term “coronavirus stress syndrome” to describe the anxiety and panic caused by the constant media coverage of the virus. She said…

“The more stressed a person is, the more their immune system is weakened, so this makes them more vulnerable to catching the Coronavirus. Therefore, watching round-the-clock news about the Coronavirus actually makes people more vulnerable to it.”

Let me get you to think about something…

When cartoons are on television, what do they advertise during the commercials? Snacks and toys…b/c that’s what appeals to the viewers: kids.

When football is on television, what do they advertise during the commercials? Alcohol and trucks…b/c that’s what appeals to the viewers.

When I was growing up, I remember every Sunday morning they would advertise all the starving children in third world countries. They knew if there’s one time people will be most inclined to give, it’s Sunday morning.

Now here’s the question…

When the news is on television, what do they advertise during the commercials?

Typically, it’s products for conditions that the news tends to produce.

Next time you’re watching the news, notice how many commercials there are for:

Anti-anxiety medicationCholesterol-lowering drugsWeight-loss solutions

Why?

These are all ailments worsened by elevated levels of anxiety and stress…which is what the news produces.

Let me tell you why this sermon is so important, and why it’s going to apply long after the Coronavirus and accompanying quarantine is in our rearview mirror…

John 16:33 Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.”

We live in a fallen world so there will always be something.

There will be more:

PestilencesPlaguesCatastrophesDisastersDeathsRecessionsDiseasesAs of right now I can add riot and looting to the list.

And as long as we have these events, there will be plenty of news covering them.

So let me give you three encouragements…

First, don’t watch the news late in the evening.

You don’t want to take that anxiety to bed with youInstead:Read the BibleListen to sermons or Christian musicSpend time talking with your family

Second, avoid too much news.

Notice I didn’t say avoid the news.

You’ve heard me say many times that the Christian life is one of balance, and this is another example.

We should be informed. We should know what’s going on and strive to have accurate information. We should study.But as verse 12 says much study is a weariness of the flesh.

So there’s a downside to too much news.

We need to be careful how much we’re consuming:Sometimes we need to practice social distancing w/ the news

There’s a lot changing week-by-week and sometimes day-by-day…but not hour-by-hour. I’m not going to legalistically tell you how much to watch, but I will say you don’t need hours per day to understand what’s going on.

My third and final encouragement…

Spend more time in God’s Word than you spend on the news.

The reason is that…

Whatever we feed ourselves influences us.

We have the opportunity to:

Feed ourselves man’s words, which are:UntrustworthyOverwhelmingAnd wearyingOr feed ourselves God’s Word, which is like a:Goad that directs usA stake that protects us

As I was reflecting on the news and why it can be so wearying, it occurred to me that it’s b/c of the absence of hope.

The stories wouldn’t be that bad if there could be some hope…but there never is.

I want to give you some…but first I have to give you the bad news.

Take your minds back to the Twin Towers for a moment…

There were people trapped above the fire. They couldn’t go down. Many of them made the last choice of their lives. They jumped.

From the top floors it was about 10 seconds for people to free fall.

There’s one horrific image that – maybe more than any others – is etched in people’s minds, and it’s simply known as “The Falling Man.”

A nameless man in a white shirt and black trousers who jumped. He’s frozen in that ten second period for millions of people to see him on the way down.

He was unable to save himself when he was trapped in the tower, and he was even more unable to save himself after he jumped.

He was in a free fall, completely powerless to do anything about his situation.

And this brings us to Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: we are the falling man.

We don’t know The Falling Man’s name, which allows him to be a terrible, fitting picture of all of us.

Brothers and sisters:

From the moment we’re born we’re in free fall.We’re hurtling toward our deaths and we’re completely powerless to save ourselvesWe can’t do anything improve our situations.Measured against eternity our lives are ten seconds.

And speaking of news, this isn’t even the worst news…

The worst news is this…

We deserve hell.

The falling man was hurdling toward the ground, but we’re hurdling toward a much worse fate and that’s eternal suffering and separation from God…

2 Thessalonians 1:8 Those who do not know God and…do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.

But here’s the good news…

Christ will save us. He’ll reach out and grab us on our way down…

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

We can receive eternal life.

This good news – or gospel – allows our despair to be replaced w/ hope.

This is news worth reading about in the Bible and meditating on.This is the kind of news that can fill our hearts with joy and peace instead of fear and anxiety.

Set your hearts and minds on this news.

If you are the falling man who has not reached out for the hand of Christ to save you, today can be the day of salvation. TODAY can be the day you stop falling toward eternal punishment and instead fall into the safe and secure hands of Christ.

Let’s pray.

Why Much Study Is Wearisome to the Flesh (Ecclesiastes 12:12), and What We Can Do About It

In Ecclesiastes 12:12 Solomon said, “My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.” Solomon was making a point about the amount of information that was available, and how overwhelming – and [wearying] – it could be. In Solomon’s day information was mostly limited to books. In our day information takes many other forms. If Solomon could say this when there was no printing press, Internet, television, radio, and only a fraction of the books we have what would he say if he lived in our day? The amount of information in our day is overwhelming and untrustworthy. Plant yourself in the Bible where “the words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed; they are given by one Shepherd” (Ecclesiastes 12:11).

Ecclesiastes 12:12 says, “Much study is wearisome to the flesh,” because the amount of information available is overwhelming.



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Table of ContentsSermon Lessons for Why Much Study Is Wearisome to the FleshFamily Worship Guide for Why Much Study Is Wearisome to the FleshSermon Notes for Why Much Study Is Wearisome to the FleshLesson 1: man’s words can be (part 1) overwhelming.Lesson 1: man’s words can be (part 2) untrustworthy.Lesson 2: God’s Word is like a (part 1) goad that directs.Lesson 2: God’s Word is like a (part 2) stake that protects.



Sermon Lessons for Why Much Study Is Wearisome to the Flesh



Lesson 1: Man’s words can be:(Part I) ________________________ (Ecc 12:12a).(Part II) ___________________________ (Ecc 12:12b). Lesson 2: God’s Word is like a:(Part I) ________ that ______________ (Ecc 12:11a; Psa 23:1, 80:1; John 10:11; Heb 13:20; 1 Pet 2:25, 5:4; Matt 12:42).(Part II) __________ that ________________ (Ecc 12:11b; Psa 119:89; Isa 40:8; 1 Pet 1:24; Matt 24:35).



Family Worship Guide for Why Much Study Is Wearisome to the Flesh



Day 1: Ecc 12:9-12, 1 Pet 3:15, 2 Tim 2:15, and discuss: According to Solomon, what causes much weariness to the flesh? How do we have a ready answer for those who ask of the reason of the hope we have? Whose approval should we be seeking when studying the Word of God? What is the danger of taking in input from the world more that input from the Bible? How does it affect our world view? Day 2: 2 Pet 3:18, John 14:26, Ecc 12:11, and discuss: What are we to grow in according to Peter? What did Jesus promise would help us to be guided into truth? How is this a benefit to us in a world so full of information? Where did Solomon say the words of the wise come from? Why is it important to know where wisdom comes from? Day 3: Ecc 12:11, Ps 119:89, Isa 40:8, 1 Pet 1:24, and discuss: How is God’s Word like an ox goad? What direction does the Bible point toward for hope and purpose? How does the wisdom of the world compete with the Bible? Why is the Word of God more relevant today regarding the pandemic than the latest news?



Sermon Notes for Why Much Study Is Wearisome to the Flesh

We’re going to contrast man’s words – in verse 12 – w/ God’s Word in verses 9 through 11.

But I want to look at what Solomon said about man’s words first, and then move into the discussion of God’s Word, which means we’re going to look at the verses out-of-order.

First look at verse 12…

Ecclesiastes 12:12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Solomon was making a point about the amount of information that was available, and how overwhelming – and [wearying] – it could be.

In Solomon’s day information was mostly limited to booksIn our day information takes many other forms

If Solomon could say this – when there was no printing press, Internet, television, radio, and only a fraction of the books we have – what would he say if he lived in our day?

So here’s the truth…

There is no time in all of history that these words have been more applicable…and this brings us to Lesson 1…

Lesson 1: man’s words can be (part 1) overwhelming.

I want to give you an idea just how overwhelming.

Whenever someone sends an email, responds to an email, writes a blog, comments on a blog, posts on Facebook, responds to a post on Facebook, tweets, replies to a tweet, uploads a video, comments on a video, this creates data…and the amount of data we create each day is astonishing.

By 2025, it’s estimated that 463 exabytes of data will be created each day.

Most of us – myself included – don’t know how much one exabyte is, say nothing about 463 of them:

A kilobyte is 1,000 bytes, or 1, with three zeroes after it.An exabyte is one quintillion kilobytes, or the number 1 with 18 zeroes after it…and that’s how much data we create each day.

To give that some perspective, it’s the equivalent of 212,765,957 DVDs of data…per day!

Many of us are almost creating our own DVD each day!

This past week I read an article on Forbes titled, “How Much Data Do We Create Every Day? The Mind-Blowing Stats Everyone Should Read.”

Let me share one quote…

“[The] pace [that we create data] is only accelerating with the growth of the Internet. Over the last two years alone 90 percent of the data in the world was generated. This is worth re-reading!”

So let me re-read it…

Over the last two years alone 90 percent of the data in the world was generated.

If Solomon lived in our day, here’s how he might write verse 12…

Of making many blogs…and podcasts…and online summits…and emails…and Facebook posts…and Twitter feeds…and interviews…and news stations…and Instagrams…and Snapchats…and LinkedIn feeds…and YouTube channels…there is no end, and much studying…and watching…and reading…and listening is a weariness of the flesh.

As helpful as all this information can be, there’s no end to it.

We could spend thousands of lifetimes and never feel like we’ve:

Read…Listened to…Studied…Or watched…

Everyone and everything we think we should read, listen to, study, or watch.

Now let me be perfectly clear…

The point is NOT that people shouldn’t have blogs, podcasts, books, watch the news, or post on social media.

The point is that the amount of information available can be overwhelming and – as Solomon said – wearying.

And there’s another important point…

It wasn’t that long ago that if you wanted to address a certain topic – or let’s say add data to the world – you had to have an amount of credibility. That’s the only way you could:

Get invited on a radio station to be interviewed…Get invited on a television show to give your opinion…Get a deal with a book publisher…

But now – within the matter of a few minutes – people can start a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel and act like an expert on anything…even if they have very little knowledge and no expertise.

Be patient w/ me while I share something that will illustrate the problem w/ the Coronavirus…it will take me a minute to get to my point, but I will get to it!

SEO is an acronym standing for “Search Engine Optimization.” It’s the science behind getting your product, whatever it is – a website, blog, podcast, image, book, video – to rank on search engines, and when I say search engines, I mean Google…b/c about 90% of searches take place on Google.

The idea is, if you’re on the second page of Google, you might as well be on the 20th page of Google.

Google uses algorithms that they keep secret to determine search rankings, and they change their algorithms to prevent people from gaming the system.

For example, keywords used to be a major ranking factor. Google would crawl websites, find the most prominent words and this would increase a page – or site’s – ranking for that keyword. Google figured if people mentioned a word often, they’re probably familiar w/ that topic.

When people learned this is what Google looked for when crawling websites, they started filling posts and pages w/ keywords they wanted to rank for. Maybe you’ve read something on the Internet and seen the same word, or phrase, repeated an awkward number of times. This is called, “keyword stuffing.”

Then Google changed their algorithms and penalized people for “keyword stuffing.” Suddenly people who were on the front page of Google found themselves on the 20th page.

In Google’s early years it focused almost entirely on relevance. Basically, Google tried to return search results that were the most relevant to the user.

But over the last few years, Google has been focusing on another major ranking factor, and that’s authority, or credibility:

If you write about sports, Google wants to make sure have some involvement in sportsIf you sell music products, Google wants to make sure you know something about quality musicIf you teach people how to do something, Google wants to make sure you have some experience in that area

Basically:

Google started wanting to make sure that people who discussed a topic had some idea what they were talking about.It’s almost like Google recognized how many people were talking about things…when they had no business talking about them.

Let me tell you about one specific core update to Google’s algorithms to try to return better, more reliable results to people…

In August 2018 they released one of their largest and most significant changes to their algorithms, and – as is the case every time Google changes their algorithms – there was a huge shakeup in the search rankings: highly ranked websites were suddenly dropped, and low ranking websites, were promoted.

But for this update, there was one area that was hit particularly hard. Listen to this…

Around 50% of all the sites that saw a loss of traffic were medical sites…and I’m using the term “medical” loosely.

Get this…

The update came to be known as “The Medical – or Medic – Update.” This wasn’t Google’s name for the update. This was title it received, b/c of how much it hurt all these sites.

Now here’s the question…

Why would all these “medical” sites be hit so hard by an update that focuses on authority and credibility?

Because as soon as Google started looking for authority – or credibility – these sites didn’t have any!

There were all these people talking about health and medicine…when they have no idea what they’re talking about. There is no shortage of people who think they’re experts on:

HealthSicknessDiseaseWell-beingNutrition

We should all think this is fantastic, b/c it’s one thing when you’re searching Google for advice on buying a car, but it’s another thing entirely when you’re searching Google to find advice for your sick child.

When I was growing up they discovered HIV. I remember how terrified people were wondering how they could and couldn’t get it from others. Since the first recorded case was in 1981, they’ve been studying the virus for almost forty years, continuing to improve the way it’s treated.

Now consider conservative estimates put the Coronavirus originating in humans at the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020. This means doctors and scientists have been studying it for a few months.

When people claim to be experts on something that’s only been around for a few months, that’s almost a guarantee that they’re not experts.

This reveals one of the other consequences of people so easily sharing their thoughts and opinions: it provides an amount of information that isn’t just overwhelming, but is also untrustworthy…and this brings us to the next part of Lesson 1…

Lesson 1: man’s words can be (part 2) untrustworthy.

Do me a favor and look at verse 12 again…

Ecclesiastes 12:12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

When Solomon says these he’s referring to the words of the wise in verse 11 which, in context, is God’s Word.

To be clear, it’s as though Solomon says beware of anything beyond [God’s Word].

What is anything beyond [God’s Word]?

Man’s words!

So the question is…

Why would Solomon – under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – give us this warning to beware of anything beyond God’s Word?

Because man’s words can be untrustworthy.

Now think about this…

If Solomon gave this warning in his day, how much more applicable would it be in our day…when everyone can be an expert?

 So again, this is very applicable for us!

Consider this…

Two of the most important factors for determining the value of information are:

First, it’s accuracy: if it’s inaccurate, how valuable is it?Second, it’s unchanging nature: if you can’t trust information tomorrow, next week, or next month, how valuable is it?

The reason I mention this is much of the information we receive from man is untrustworthy b/c it’s inaccurate and it changes.

Le me provide three examples related to the current situation, although there are plenty more I could give you…

The first example is masks…

Let me ask: should we wear masks?

The answer is: it depends on the day.

If it’s before April 3rd, the CDC – the Center for Disease for Control – said not to wear masks.Then on April 3, President Trump announced that the CDC recommended wearing masks.

That’s weird isn’t it?

One day we don’t need masks.The next day they might save your life.

The second example is the economy…

President Trump has been predicting the economy is going to bounce back. Maybe he doesn’t have much credibility w/ you b/c he wants to be reelected, so let me tell you what a few other people said as well:

I read an article on Nasdaq.com titled, “ The Dow Will Bounce Back. History Tells Us When .” The article stated, “Many events have knocked the Dow down, and more often than not, it bounces back quickly.”Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and an American billionaire, entrepreneur, and investor. He has “absolute confidence” the nation will return to its pre-coronavirus boom.

This sounds very optimistic about the economy recovering.

But listen to this…

Paul Singer is a multi-billionaire hedge fund manager and investor. In other words, he deals w/ the stock market for a living and does very well. In a Forbes article he said: “America could be facing the deepest recession since the Great Depression.”

This sounds very pessimistic about the economy recovering.

So here’s the good news and bad news:

The good news is if you want to find information that tells you the economy is going to recover, you canThe bad news is if you want to find information that tells you the economy is not going to recover, you can

And b/c of the amount of untrustworthy information available, this is pretty much the case w/ every topic you can imagine.

The problem is that if you want to learn about a certain topic:

There seems to be an equal number of qualified, educated, intelligent people on both sidesThe more you read, the more confused you becomeInstead of learning more about the topic, you learn that everyone disagrees.

And this causes the weariness Solomon describes.

The third example is toilet paper…

We’ve been convinced that the reason every store has run out of toilet paper, is b/c greedy, selfish people are hoarding it. This past week I read an article that argued it’s b/c so many people are at home, which means they’re aren’t going to the bathroom more…but they are going to the bathroom more at home…which means they’re using more toilet paper at home.

Here’s the issue…

The toilet paper industry is split into two, separate markets:

The commercial market, which is the toilet paper for public restrooms, such as those in workplaces, schools, restaurants, hotels, and airports. Because of the quarantine all this toilet paper is being unused.The consumer market, which is the toilet paper for people’s homes…and this is what’s missing from store shelves.

So you say, “Why can’t we use all the unused toilet paper from the commercial market in the consumer market?”

The answer is, b/c they’re different:

The commercial toilet paper used in public restrooms is on huge rolls, too big to fit on most home dispensers. The paper itself is thinner and more practical. It comes individually wrapped and is on huge pallets.The consumer toilet paper for homes is in brightly branded packs of six or 12…so you can feel like you’re buying pretty toilet paper.

I’m not really trying to educate you on toilet paper…although perhaps you found this interesting.

I’m trying to make the point that we can’t even figure out why we’re running out of toilet paper:

Is it b/c we’re selfish greedy consumers?Or is it b/c we have a supply chain and distribution issue?

So you say, “Okay, when the dust settles, years from now, we’ll be able to look back and see who was right and who was wrong about everything.”

History proves that this doesn’t happen w/ history!

People spend decades looking at the same information, but coming to completely different conclusions.

Here’s what’s probably going to happen when the quarantine is debated for decades to come….

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Dr. Fauci – who has become the face of America’s response to the virus – predicted that up to 2000,000 Americans would die if drastic steps weren’t taken. Since then estimates have dropped considerably:

People in favor of the quarantine will say it saved tens of thousands of lives.People opposed to the quarantine will say, “See, the virus is no big deal. Hardly killed anyone. We didn’t even need the quarantine.”

Look back at verse 12. The second half of the verse says…

Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

First, let me be clear that this isn’t as literal as it sounds:

God isn’t discouraging us from reading anything but the Bible.There are plenty of wonderful Christian books that can help us grow.

So what is the point?

Solomon is saying we should make sure we don’t let any earthly books rob of us of the Bible’s wisdom. We don’t want to spend so much time reading other books – even wonderful Christian books – that we neglect God’s Word.

Let me use an illustration from when I used to be into weightlifting…

There’s a saying that “Muscles are made in the kitchen, not the gym.”

The idea is you break muscles down when you work out, and then you feed them – in the kitchen – to make them grow. There’s a lot of truth in this, b/c:

The difference between most weightlifters isn’t what happens in the gym, b/c most of them work out intensely.The difference is what happens in the kitchen…or how well they eat.

As a weightlifter, as soon as you learn that what you eat is super important, you go to your local GNC and spend hundreds – or thousands of dollars – on supplements. All the ads in magazines are filled w/ huge bodybuilders and you think you’ll look like them if you take the supplements they’re advertising.

But many bodybuilders track what they eat in journals and they’ll make these journals available online. When you look at them, you see they don’t use many supplements, b/c they need every edge they can get and they know whole food is better.

You’ll talk to the most successful bodybuilders in the gym and they’ll say the same thing. You ask them what supplements they’re taking, and you find out it’s hardly any.

They use supplements…but as supplements…to supplement their diets and cover the areas they have trouble meeting through whole food.

Then, typically, after lifting weights for a few years, you’ll stop spending so much on supplements and spend more on whole food.

Sometimes I feel like Christians follow this same journey…

We get saved and spend lots of time on Christian books and devotionals. As Solomon says of making many books there is no end.

Then, after we’ve been Christians for some number of years, we recognize nothing compares w/ God’s Word and we spend more time reading it.

The Bible is the whole food that should make up most of our diets.

There’s a place for Christian books and devotionals. Maybe we want to:

Learn more about a topicWe want to grow in a certain area

Then we buy a book to supplement our Bible reading.

Spurgeon said, “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.”

With everything happening w/ the Coronavirus this brings us to another temptation we face that can draw us away from God’s Word. Before I share it, let me make one qualification…

I’m all for trying – as difficult as it is – to be educated and informed:

I try to catch the White House briefings each day, and our governors briefingsI’ve read lots of articles about the virusI’ve been part of four webinars – and I’ll be part of another one this week – specifically for pastors discussing how to shepherd our congregations during this season

BUT…

There comes a point that we’re reading, listening, and watching TOO much, b/c

It’s become an obsessionAnd we’re neglecting God’s Word

So as your pastor, I just want to encourage you to examine:

How much time you’re spending learning about the virusAnd how much time you’re spending in God’s Word

Now all of us – myself included – are perhaps weary just thinking about all the overwhelming and untrustworthy information out there. So let’s read some verses that can encourage us to spend the time we should in God’s Word.

Look at verse 9…

Ecclesiastes 12:9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care.

The Preacher is Solomon and we have many of his proverbs in the Book of Proverbs.

Ecclesiastes 12:10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

And here’s the important part…

Ecclesiastes 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

Verses 9 and 10 discuss Solomon – the Preacher – who sounds really good:

He’s wise: he taught the people knowledge and created many proverbsHe sought to find words of delight and he wrote words of truth.

So you’d expect him to say the words of the wise came from him, but he said they’re given by one Shepherd.

Who’s this Shepherd?

In the OT the shepherd is identified as God:

Psalms 23:1 The Lord is my ShepherdPsalms 80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. We know who’s enthroned upon the cherubim: that’s God.

In the New Testament the Shepherd comes into clearer focus and we see He’s Jesus:

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.Hebrews 13:20 Our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep1 Peter 5:4 When the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

The greatest wisdom comes from Jesus, b/c despite how wise Solomon was in Matthew 12:42 [Jesus said], “The queen of the South…came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here,” referring to Himself.

I mentioned this earlier, but it’s worth mentioning again…

In verse 11 the words of the wise given by the Shepherd refer to the Word of God…b/c what Jesus said and taught is the Word of God.

If you briefly look back at verse 11 the Shepherd’s wise words – or the Word of God – are fittingly compared w/ two shepherds’ tools: goads and nails firmly fixed…and this brings us to Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: God’s Word is like a (part 1) goad that directs.

Goads were long sticks w/ points on the end:

Shepherds used to use them to poke animals and move them in the right direction…just like God’s Word pokes us and moves us in the right direction.Goads were used to alert animals and wake them…just like God’s Word alerts us and – spiritually speaking – wakes us.Finally, goads sting…just like God’s Word can sometimes sting

The “sting” of God’s Word is especially evident regarding it’s teaching on trials.

Here’s what I mean:

We want to read that God will prevent trials, but instead we’re told they’re part of this life.We want to read that God will make trials easier, but instead we’re told He’ll give us the grace to endure them…which means they’re not going away. Basically, God says “I’ll help you handle the trial just the way it is.”We want to read that God lets us feel sorry for ourselves during trials…but instead we’re told to count trials as joy.

Here’s the main point I want you to see…

Man’s words are untrustworthy:

You don’t know whether they’re accurateThey might point you in the wrong direction.

God’s Word is like a goad that is trustworthy – and even though it hurts sometimes – it always point us in the direction.

Second, in verse 11 the wise words are compared w/ nails firmly fixed…and this brings us to the next part of Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: God’s Word is like a (part 2) stake that protects.

The nails firmly fixed are the nails – or stakes – shepherds used to secure animals who might wander off into dangerous territory

You can guess that animals wouldn’t like this, but it protected them…just like we might not like everything God’s Word says, but it protects us from wandering into dangerous territoryThe nails would keep the animals in place – fixed – and that’s what God’s Word does for us. It gives us a firm foundation.

Notice it says the nails are firmly fixed, which communicates that they’re unmovable, or unchangeable…just like God’s Word.

Psalms 119:89 Forever, O Lord, your word is FIRMLY FIXED in the heavens.Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.1 Peter 1:24 “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

Listen to what the Shepherd said about His words…

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

That’s pretty firmly fixed, isn’t it?

Unlike man’s word – which changes – God’s Word is firm and unchanging.

If you go anywhere else you’ll get tossed around, but if you go to God’s Word you’re going to find security.

My hope for you is that you’re being anchored in the Bible and not any of man’s words you’re reading, listening to, or watching.

We’re grounded in Christ if we abide in Him. Let me conclude w/ these verses…

Hebrews 6:18 It is impossible for God to lie, [so] we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Our hope is not in the next blog post, book, or article. Our hope is in Jesus who has entered the Most Holy Place on our behalf.

If you want to avoid being weary, remember this…

Solomon said the reading of many books wearies us, but reading God’s Word strengthens us.

Let’s pray.

Biblical Narratives Versus Imperatives – Commands in Scripture Have More Weight Than Stories

It is important to understand biblical narratives versus imperatives. Imperatives are commands while narratives are stories or accounts in Scripture that should not be given as much weight. Christians should build their theology with imperatives (or commands, such as Romans 13, 1 Peter 2, and Titus 3) supported by narratives (or accounts) versus the other way around.

It is important to understand biblical narratives versus imperatives. Imperatives, or commands, should have more weight than narratives.



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Table of ContentsLessons for Biblical Narratives Versus ImperativesFamily Worship Guide for Biblical Narratives Versus ImperativesSermon Notes for Biblical Narratives Versus ImperativesLesson 1: we don’t submit to sin.Lesson 2: Moses appealed to Pharaoh.Lesson 3: David appealed to Saul.Lesson 4: Esther appealed to the king.Lesson 5: let’s not waste this trial.



Lessons for Biblical Narratives Versus Imperatives



Lesson 1: We don’t submit ____ ______ (Exo 1:15-17). Lesson 2: __________ appealed to ______________ (Exo 3:18-19, 5:2-8). Lesson 3: __________ appealed to ________ (1 Sam 24:4-10, 26:8-25). Lesson 4: ____________ appealed to the ________ (Est 3:13-16, 5:1-2; 9:5, 13-14; Pro 21:1). Lesson 5: Let’s not __________ this __________ (Dan 9:13-14).



Family Worship Guide for Biblical Narratives Versus Imperatives



Day 1: Read Exo 3:18-19 and 5:2-8 and discuss: Do you see any similarities between the Israelites in Egypt and our current situation? Why did God send Moses to appeal to Pharaoh when He knew Pharaoh would disobey? What implications does this have for us? Day 2: Read 1 Sam 24:4-10, 26:8-25 and discuss: Why was David convicted when he cut off a corner of Saul’s robe? What application does this have for us? Why did it look like God would want David to kill Saul? Why wouldn’t he, and what application does this have for us? Was there a point at which David “disobeyed” Saul or at least wouldn’t go along with his request? What can we learn from this? Day 3: Read Est 3:13-16, 5:1-2; 9:5, 13-14; Pro 21:1, Dan 9:13-14 and discuss: How would you expect the Jews to respond when they learned they’d be slaughtered? How would you expect God to tell them to respond? How did Esther respond? What application does Pro 21:1 have to our current situation? How could we waste the trial we’re experiencing? How can we ensure we don’t waste it? What do you think God wants us to learn?



Sermon Notes for Biblical Narratives Versus Imperatives

On Wednesday, April 29th, the elders joined me in the sanctuary to share w/ all of you that at this point in time we feel led to submit to the government and appeal through letters, praying, and fasting. There might be a point at which we disobey, but we don’t believe we’ve reached that point yet.

We tend to project ourselves on others, and b/c if I was in your position I would want to know how my elders came to this decision, I felt like you’re entitled to an explanation. So I’ve been explaining how we came to this decision over the last two Sundays, and this morning will be the third and final message.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think another sermon on this topic is necessary. I feel like people are pretty settled where they are more teaching won’t be beneficial.

One thing I’ve shared w/ you is that there are godly people on both sides of this issue, and they can quote other godly people.

In the first sermon I told you that I’ve landed where I have b/c I think we should build our theology w/ imperatives – or commands – supported by narratives – or accounts…versus the other way around.

In other words:

We should look for imperatives, such as those found in 1 Pet 2, Rom 13, and Titus 2.Then see if narratives – or accounts in Scripture – support those imperatives.

When we talked as elders we found many narratives supporting the imperatives…and this helped convince us to go in this direction.

This morning we’ll look at some of these narratives, but b/c I want to conclude w/ this sermon, I can’t cover all of them that I’d like; therefore, I’ve simply chosen three.

Let’s begin w/ Exodus 1…

Exodus 1:15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.

This is similar to:

Daniel 6 when Daniel disobeyed authority and prayedAnd Acts 5 when the apostles disobeyed authority and preached

I wanted to briefly look at this account, b/c it comes to mind when thinking of disobeying the government, and b/c it gives me the opportunity to repeat a point that I’ve made at the beginning of each sermon…

Lesson 1: we don’t submit to sin.

Understandably when you’re talking about submission, you wonder how far it extends. I’ve said we’re submitting now, but that doesn’t mean we’ll submit forever.

The account w/ the Hebrew midwives is close to what happened in Nazi Germany when Jews were being murdered.

Understandably Nazi Germany keeps coming up, b/c that was a time to disobey the government and not submit to sin.

The idea is this…

“ The people who hid Jews were disobeying the government. The people who killed them were obeying.”

Nazi Germany – like the king of Egypt – was trying to murder people. But our government – at least so far – hasn’t asked us to murder anyone. If they do, we’ll disobey.

Look at Exodus 3:18…the context is God is speaking to Moses from the burning bush…

Exodus 3:18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

Pharaoh was the authority over the Israelites in Moses’ day, and instead of telling the Jews to rebel, God sent Moses to appeal to Pharaoh…and this brings us to Lesson 2…

Lesson 2: Moses appealed to Pharaoh.

At least four times that I could find in Exodus Moses requested that Pharaoh allow them to worship and serve the Lord…which gives this some similarities to our situation…

We’re requesting to open our churches to worship and serve the Lord.

Look at verse 19…

Exodus 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.

It’s worth noticing that from the very beginning God told Moses that Pharaoh would not release the people.

So here’s what’s interesting…

God could’ve wiped out Egypt w/ the plaguesHe could’ve jumped right to the last plague that did cause Pharaoh to release the people

But instead, He first had Moses repeatedly appeal to Pharaoh.

And our plan is to repeatedly appeal to the governor to allow us to worship:

We sent one letter, and we plan on sending moreWe called for one day of fasting, and we plan on calling for more

Look at Exodus 5:2 to see what happened after Moses appealed to Pharaoh…

Exodus 5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”

I’m convinced many of our politicians don’t know God any better than Pharaoh did, but that didn’t change Moses’ need to appeal, and it doesn’t change our need to appeal.

Now watch something that could be very instructive for us…

Exodus 5:4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’”

Here’s what stuck out to me:

Moses appealed to PharaohHe was doing God’s willHe didn’t have to wonder if this is what God wanted…God told him this is what He wantedBut Pharaoh still didn’t let the people go.

Instead things actually got worse.

I’m mentioning this b/c:

Even though things weren’t going the way Moses wanted, it didn’t mean he was doing anything wrong.We’re appealing, and maybe it won’t go the way we want, but it doesn’t mean we’re doing anything wrong.

I mention this to encourage you, b/c as a pastor any time you invite your people to pray and fast you have this nagging concern that God might not answer the way we want or as quickly as we want…but we can still be in God’s will.

Let’s look at the second example by turning to 1 Samuel 24…

Here’s the background…

David and his men are on the run from Saul who’s trying to kill them. Saul unknowingly entered the cave David and his men were hiding in. Look at verse 4…

1 Samuel 24:4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

When David’s men saw him rise with his sword and move toward Saul, they must’ve thought, “This is it. Our exile is finally over. We can return home. We don’t need to be afraid for our lives anymore. David can become king and we can serve at his right hand…b/c God has delivered Saul into his hand.”

And here’s the thing…

It looked that way! This sounds exactly like something we might expect God to say to David.

Instead David cut off a corner of his robe.

Look at verse 5…

1 Samuel 24:5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

David was convicted just for this small act against The Lord’s anointed.

David did some things in his life that could cause us to wonder why he’s the Man After God’s Own Heart. I’m guessing this is one of the reasons: at least at this moment, he had such sensitivity to conviction.

1 Samuel 24:6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, The Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is The Lord’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

Now look at this appeal…

1 Samuel 24:8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is The Lord’s anointed.’

David calls him, “My lord the king.” He bowed to the ground. He paid him homage. This is a gracious and humble appeal that’s made even more impressive, b/c it’s being made to such an ungodly man…and this brings us to Lesson 3…

Lesson 3: David appealed to Saul.

Skip to chapter 26 to see the second appeal.

Here’s the context…

David and Abishai snuck into Saul’s camp when he was sleeping. While they’re standing next to Saul look at verse 8…

1 Samuel 26:8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.”

Once again, someone tells David it’s God’s will for him to kill Saul…and once again it really looked that way!

1 Samuel 26:9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against THE LORD’S ANOINTED and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.

David’s words encourage me, and here’s why…

While we’re submitting to and appealing to the authority over us, we can say what David said…and I’m not joking…

“As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.”

In other words, God can deal w/ any man who’s in authority. It’s not beyond His ability.

If God wants to remove any politician, such as Governor Inslee and replace him with Joshua Freed, or someone else, He can do that…but until then, unless we’re commanded to sin, God expects us to be like David and recognize the authority of the office.

We talk about walking by faith and trusting God, and this is what it looks like to do so.

Look at verse 11…

1 Samuel 26:11 The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against THE LORD’S ANOINTED. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them. 13 Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. 14 And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?”

Abner is Saul’s general, right-hand man, and the guy most responsible w/ making sure people don’t sneak into the camp at night, right next to Saul’s head, and steal his spear and jar.

Needless to say, he’s about to be embarrassed.

1 Samuel 26:15 And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord (referring to Abishai). 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, THE LORD’S ANOINTED. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.” 17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.”

Now look at this appeal…

1 Samuel 26:18 And he said, “Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? 19 Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

Another gracious and humble appeal from David to an ungodly man.

Now here’s the question…

Wy didn’t David kill Saul when he had the opportunity…twice?

The answer is contained in the:

Nine times in these two chapters David calls Saul my lord and my kingAnd the seven times David called him The Lord’s anointed

David recognized Saul’s authority…and he recognized it came from God.

And many things make this more impressive than it initially looked…

David kept calling Saul The Lord’s anointed…but who else was The Lord’s anointed? David!David recognized Saul was king…but he knew God wanted him to be kingDavid knew God rejected Saul as king…but he still kept respecting his authority as long as he was kingDavid knew he couldn’t become king as long as Saul was king…but he wouldn’t remove Saul from being king.

Instead, he appealed to Saul and trusted God w/ the outcome.

Saul would’ve been a hard man to respect. If David didn’t respect him – and I wouldn’t fault him – he still respected the office Saul occupied.

When I was in Army ROTC – so before I was an officer – we would regularly go to the field for training exercises. After each exercise we’d have an AAR, or “After Action Review.” We’d talk about how the exercise went: whether it went well, or poorly, and what we could learn.

During one exercise the cadet who was in charge did a terrible job. During the AAR I shared my many observations about his performance. I half-expected one of the commanding officers to acknowledge what I said, and perhaps even compliment my great insights and deep understanding of military tactics.

Instead, LTC Brewer spoke up and ripped me apart in front of everyone. I don’t remember him saying one single thing about the cadet who was in charge, but he said plenty of things about me. It was humiliating…but I completely deserved it.

I still remember him saying, “Even if your commanding officer is terrible, you respect his office.”

You could listen to this story and say, “You’re talking about your military experience, but this isn’t the military.”

That’s true, but the Greek word for submit or be subject is hypotasso and it is a military term meaning, “to arrange troops under a commander.”

I don’t mention this story b/c LTC Brewer said something and I think we should do it.

I mention it b/c it illustrates what the NT commands, and what the OT supports through accounts – such as this one w/ David – that we should respect the authority of individuals in positions over us.

Now I want to show you something interesting. Look at verse 21…

1 Samuel 26:21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.”

Saul looks repentant. The problem is, he’s looked repentant before, so…

1 Samuel 26:22 And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against THE LORD’S ANOINTED. 24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

Saul asked David to return – or come back to Jerusalem or come home as it’s translated in many Bibles. But the end of the verse says David went his way. He didn’t go w/ Saul, and he didn’t go back to Jerusalem.

Why not?

Last week we talked about combining faith and wisdom:

David had faith that God would protect himBut he combined that faith w/ wisdom

So he would NOT walk Saul’s spear back to him…probably the same spear Saul threw at David numerous times.…or have any of his own men bring it back to him. Instead, he asked for one of Saul’s men to come get it.

I’m not going to say David disobeyed Saul – b/c I’m not sure that it was really an order – but I will say this…

David didn’t trust Saul, and he didn’t do everything Saul wanted.He didn’t blindly or unconditionally submit to Saul.

Similarly, we shouldn’t blindly or unconditionally submit to authority.

I’ll use a hypothetical situation that has come up a few times – b/c sadly – I could see it happening…

“What if the government expected people to be vaccinated to go to church?”

There’s no way we would submit to this. We would disobey.

And if we need to disobey the government – let’s imagine another hypothetical situation – that I have to go jail for taking this stand – which I would be willing to do – and let’s say I go before a judge or anyone else in authority, here’s what I would like to be able to say…

“Up to this point, I have tried hard to obey laws even when I disagreed and questioned their constitutionality. We are not rebellious people. We are not trouble-makers. God commands us to live quiet, peaceful lives and that’s what we’ve been trying to do. We have worked to respect and honor the people in office as God’s Word commands. If you listen to my sermons – which are available online – you will see that I repeatedly told my church to submit to government, and I have told them that you have been working for our good, b/c that’s what Scripture says is the case. But this has gone too far, and now we must disobey.”

In other words, if we disobey – which we’re willing to do – we want the authority over us to recognize the lengths we went to obey, and that disobedience was a last – versus first – resort.

Let’s look at the third example by turning to Esther 3…the last historical book. The easiest way to find it is by turning to the left of Job and Psalms.

The context is the Persians are going to slaughter the Jews.

Esther 3:13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

The decree goes out to destroy, kill, and annihilate all Jews.

Skip to Esther 4:14 to see what happened next…Mordecai is speaking to Esther and he says…

Esther 4:14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

As I’ve said many times up to this point, there’s a lot of disagreement among godly people on both sides of the current situation, but one thing we can all agree on is that we must do something, so:

Just as Mordecai told Esther, “Hey, you’re a Jew; you need to get involved!”The application for us is we’re Christians, and we need to be involved.

We’ve gotten involved by appealing w/ letters, and praying and fasting.

Let’s think about something for a moment…

The major disagreement is about when to obey and when to disobey:

Everyone agrees we should obey authority sometimesAnd everyone agrees we should disobey authority sometimesI haven’t heard of anyone who thinks we should blindly and unconditionally obey all the time under any circumstancesAnd I haven’t heard of anyone who thinks we should disobey all the time under any circumstances as though we’re anarchists

So really it’s been a question of when to obey and when to disobey.

And I think everyone on both sides can agree that if the government was going to destroy, kill, and annihilate, that would be a time to disobey, right?

But here’s what’s interesting…

In Esther’s day it was a time to appeal.

Now I’m not saying that if the government ever said to destroy, kill, and annihilate that we would appeal versus defend ourselves.

But I am making the point that we’re considering examples of appealing versus rebelling, and this is a very dramatic one.

Because, what could Mordecai have told Esther to do, or tried to do himself?

Lead a rebellionStart a revolutionTell everyone to pick up arms and fight back.

They will do that later – and just hold on to that for a moment – but at this point he told her to appeal…and this brings us to Lesson 4…

Lesson 4: Esther appealed to the king.

Look at Esther’s response…

Esther 4:15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

This is the account that came up the most in our elder meeting.

Esther called for her people to fast while she appealed to the king, and so we called for our people – the church – to fast while we appealed w/ letters to our authorities.

Something making this even more fitting is fasting is associated w/ prayer and mourning, and:

We’re praying for this situationWe’re mourning that we can’t meet

Look at Esther 5:1…

Esther 5:1 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. 2 And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

The Book of Esther is interesting in that there’s no mention of any of the typical important spiritual stuff, such as the Law, sacrifices, worship, and prayer. It doesn’t even say that Esther called for the people to pray. It just says she called for them to fast. We assume they prayed, but it doesn’t say that.

Most surprisingly, God Himself is never mentioned…but in a beautiful way, Esther is a book that doesn’t mention God, but instead shows God working behind the scenes in extraordinary ways…such as in verse 2 when it says [Esther] won favor in [the king’s] sight.

I’d say God gave Esther this favor, and we’re praying God gives us favor w/ Governor Inslee.

Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

We have full confidence that God can bend the hearts of anyone in authority – whether President Trump or Governor Inslee – to His will.

Just to tell you what happened after this…

Esther went back to the king and asked if they could defend themselves and he granted it. Look at Esther 9:5…

Esther 9:5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them.

The Jews were able to defend themselves against their enemies, but – interestingly – they received permission to do so by appealing.

Now there’s one more place I’d like to show you. Please look at Daniel 9:13…the fourth prophet after Isa, Jer, and Eze.

Daniel 9:13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.

Daniel’s discussing the calamity that came upon the Jews – referring to their exile – and he’s afraid they haven’t done certain things they should’ve done as a result of this calamity.

Let me be clear about why this ministered to me…

We all want our lives to go back to normal – and I do too – but I know there are things God wants to accomplish through the calamity we’re experiencing…and this brings us to Lesson 5…

Lesson 5: let’s not waste this trial.

The Coronavirus and accompanying quarantine is a global calamity that has caused problems physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.

The situation is bad enough, but one thing that would make it even more unfortunate is if we went through it and failed to learn what God wants us to learn.

And this seemed to be Daniel’s concern w/ his people regarding the calamity they experienced.

If we look at what Daniel wanted for the Jews, it reveals what God wants for us too.

The reason they’re the same is there are some foundational things God wants to accomplish in His people in every calamity.

Look back w/ me at verse 13:

Daniel 9:13 As it is written in the Law of Moses:

all this calamity has come upon us – or we could say the Coronavirus and quarantine and accompanying problems have come upon usyet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God – Daniel was concerned that his people had not sought the Lord like they should. I read this and suspect we haven’t prayed like we should. For my part, I know I haven’t.turning from our iniquities – this is a concise definition of repentance. Daniel knew that his people had not repented like they should, and I wonder: have we repented like we should?and gaining insight by your truth. – Danie knew his people should be gaining spiritual insight from God’s truth, which is to say the Word of God. How are we gaining insight? Where are we gaining it from? Are we clinging to the next Coronavirus update or are we clinging to God’s Word?14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. – Daniel says God brought all this on his people b/c they hadn’t done these things. In Scripture, God typically brought plagues as a result of sin. Nobody should object if God brought this calamity on us b/c of our sin.

This is our final sermon explaining the elders’ decision, and I want to close by saying this…

Many people have said, “We’re being tested,” and I agree.

My hope is that:

We don’t waste this test by failing to learn what God wants us to learn.Instead, let’s try to pass this test by:Humbling ourselvesPrayingRepentingAnd seeking insight and truth from God’s Word.

So we can learn everything He wants us to learn from this.

Let’s pray.