WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.679 Am I my brother's keeper? That was the famously 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:09.779 defiant response that Cain had when God asked 00:00:09.779 --> 00:00:13.419 him where his brother was, the same brother that 00:00:13.419 --> 00:00:16.079 he had just murdered. Cain said, I don't know. 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:21.679 Why should I be accountable for him? Now, none 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.359 of us here this morning are murderers, I hope. 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:28.820 But that question still lingers among God's people, 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:32.250 doesn't it? Am I my brother's keeper? And the 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:35.609 answer is yes. The spiritual good of my brother 00:00:35.609 --> 00:00:39.350 and my sister, especially those in my local church 00:00:39.350 --> 00:00:41.750 family, is always going to be a guide for how 00:00:41.750 --> 00:00:46.070 I live my life. My choices, my priorities, my 00:00:46.070 --> 00:00:49.509 actions are always regulated by the principle 00:00:49.509 --> 00:00:53.520 of Christian love. This morning, we're turning 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:55.700 the page from some of the challenging principles 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:58.759 that we looked at in 1 Corinthians 7. We're turning 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:02.380 over to chapter 8, and this is an entire chapter 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:05.799 that focuses on the balance between our freedom 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:08.760 in Christ and that principle of Christian love. 00:01:09.689 --> 00:01:12.230 Before we open our Bibles and read the chapter 00:01:12.230 --> 00:01:14.609 together, I want to give you a little bit of, 00:01:14.730 --> 00:01:17.170 do a little prep work on the front end culturally 00:01:17.170 --> 00:01:20.109 for the issue that's about to be laid on the 00:01:20.109 --> 00:01:22.959 table by Paul. Having dealt with a whole bunch 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:25.620 of questions about celibacy and marriage and 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:28.840 divorce and singleness, the Corinthians now have 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:31.340 a new question for Paul to address and it's, 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:34.480 It's concerned something that we talk about food 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:38.799 sacrifice to idols. Food sacrifice, this is not 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.459 a big issue in 2026, right? But you'll find that 00:01:42.459 --> 00:01:45.400 there are still many practical lessons that we 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.260 can lift off the page and apply in our modern 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:50.799 world today. Now, here's the cultural context 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:53.980 of what we're about to read. Recall that in Corinth, 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:56.680 most of the members of that church had come out 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:58.939 of a pagan background, those who were Gentiles. 00:01:59.060 --> 00:02:01.280 They were in a pagan background. They came to 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.049 know Christ. And Corinth was a city, we talked 00:02:04.049 --> 00:02:06.230 about this months ago, that had many different 00:02:06.230 --> 00:02:09.189 temples where you could go worship idols of all 00:02:09.189 --> 00:02:11.889 kinds and you could bring all kinds of sacrifices 00:02:11.889 --> 00:02:15.090 to these temples and offer them to these so -called 00:02:15.090 --> 00:02:18.530 gods. And when that sacrifice was an animal, 00:02:18.729 --> 00:02:21.969 the meat would be divided up in several ways. 00:02:22.069 --> 00:02:24.150 Some of it would be burned on the altar as the 00:02:24.150 --> 00:02:27.090 offering to the god. Some of that might have 00:02:27.090 --> 00:02:29.189 been taken home by the one who brought the offering 00:02:29.189 --> 00:02:31.300 so that they could... They could eat a meal with 00:02:31.300 --> 00:02:33.900 it. And some of it would be left with the priests 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:37.479 for them to live off of. And then some of that 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.159 extra portion, sometimes from the priest, sometimes 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:43.680 from the offerer, would then be sold in the marketplace 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:46.240 to a meat market. And that would be then put 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:50.039 up for sale for the general public to purchase. 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:53.360 So it's kind of an interesting thing about any 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:55.900 time in Corinth you walked in and you were purchasing 00:02:55.900 --> 00:02:58.560 meat, there was a chance it had at one time been 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:01.389 sacrificed to idols. So think about this now. 00:03:01.430 --> 00:03:03.569 For the Christian, this raises all kinds of issues, 00:03:03.689 --> 00:03:05.949 doesn't it? Especially for the Corinthians who 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:08.610 are trying to learn about all the nuances of 00:03:08.610 --> 00:03:11.030 their new Christian faith. So would eating that 00:03:11.030 --> 00:03:13.389 meat that had been sacrificed to a false god, 00:03:13.569 --> 00:03:17.159 would that defile me? It's a good question, right? 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:18.879 It's something that would probably be on your 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.960 heart. Can I attend a festival or communal meal 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:24.319 where that meat is being served? Or what if I 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:26.060 don't know where that meat came from? What do 00:03:26.060 --> 00:03:29.120 I do? What about in a private home? What if I 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.599 get invited to a private home for a meal with 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:33.659 an unbelieving neighbor who I'm trying to reach 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:36.240 with the gospel, and boom, they serve me meat? 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:39.680 Uh -oh. Do I need to ask the question? Where'd 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.250 that come from? Is that offensive? Can I buy 00:03:43.250 --> 00:03:45.129 this meat in the marketplace if it's at a really 00:03:45.129 --> 00:03:49.800 good price? It's a deal. It's a steal, man. So 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.039 lots of questions here. And then the big question 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:54.199 that Paul wants to address in the middle of that 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:57.180 cultural issue is this. What do I do if my brother 00:03:57.180 --> 00:04:00.219 or sister, my Christian brother or sister, has 00:04:00.219 --> 00:04:03.259 a different conviction about eating that meat 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:07.050 than I do? Do I need to say no for their sake, 00:04:07.150 --> 00:04:10.110 or do I lean into my freedom in Christ and eat 00:04:10.110 --> 00:04:14.039 it anyway? So grab your Bibles. We're going to 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:15.599 go to 1 Corinthians 8. We're going to take a 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:19.639 look at this. As I said, it's nice to be in chapter. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:23.339 Chapter 7 was a doozy, wasn't it? So I'm glad 00:04:23.339 --> 00:04:26.529 to be here this morning. Now, if you look at 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:28.870 it, You can see it's a pretty short chapter, 00:04:28.970 --> 00:04:31.689 just 13 verses. And we're going to cover it just 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:35.189 between today and next Sunday. And this may shock 00:04:35.189 --> 00:04:36.870 you of the 13 verses. We're only going to look 00:04:36.870 --> 00:04:40.189 at two today, verses one and two. And I'll explain 00:04:40.189 --> 00:04:42.470 why in just a moment. So let's read the whole 00:04:42.470 --> 00:04:45.129 chapter. Again, it's only 13 verses. Let's take 00:04:45.129 --> 00:04:47.250 it the new. Let's just read the whole chapter 00:04:47.250 --> 00:04:50.329 here. So hear God's word this morning. Paul writes, 00:04:50.410 --> 00:05:10.259 now concerning things, sacrifice the idols. Verse 00:05:10.259 --> 00:05:24.029 4. For even if there are so -called gods, whether 00:05:24.029 --> 00:05:26.829 in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many 00:05:26.829 --> 00:05:30.430 gods and many lords, yet for us there is but 00:05:30.430 --> 00:05:34.050 one God, the Father, from whom all things, and 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:37.170 we exist for him. And one Lord, Jesus Christ, 00:05:37.310 --> 00:05:39.850 by whom are all things, and we exist through 00:05:39.850 --> 00:05:43.050 him. However, not all men have this knowledge. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:46.060 But some, being accustomed to the idol until 00:05:46.060 --> 00:05:49.339 now, eat food as it were sacrificed to an idol, 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:52.259 and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 00:05:52.899 --> 00:05:56.100 But food will not commend us to God. We are neither 00:05:56.100 --> 00:05:59.459 the worse if we do not eat it, nor the better 00:05:59.459 --> 00:06:03.300 if we do eat. But take care that this liberty 00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:05.420 of yours does not somehow become a stumbling 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:09.040 block to the weak. For if someone sees you who 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.639 have knowledge, Dining in an idol's temple will 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:15.759 not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.639 to eat things sacrificed to idols. For through 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:21.959 your knowledge, he who is weak is ruined, the 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:25.399 brother for whose sake Christ died. And so by 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:27.439 sinning against the brethren and wounding their 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:31.379 conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.480 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, 00:06:34.620 --> 00:06:38.040 I will never eat meat again, so that I will not 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:41.459 cause my brother to stumble. Okay, there's a 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:43.180 lot there, and you can see that next week we 00:06:43.180 --> 00:06:45.319 have a lot to talk through, right? But today 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:47.379 we're going to set the stage for Paul's big idea 00:06:47.379 --> 00:06:50.839 by focusing on what I think is a foundational 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:53.860 principle in the Christian life found just in 00:06:53.860 --> 00:06:57.079 verses 1 and 2. So let's take a look at this. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:59.360 Let's start a conversation about this thing we 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:03.540 call knowledge. Knowledge. Look at verse 1 again. 00:07:04.290 --> 00:07:07.430 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, and 00:07:07.430 --> 00:07:09.529 we can for now lay aside that cultural issue. 00:07:10.220 --> 00:07:13.680 Paul says, we know that we all have knowledge. 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:17.439 Now, if you're reading from a translation other 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:19.160 than the New American Standard, which is what 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:22.819 I read from, you probably see quotation marks 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:27.699 around that phrase, we all have knowledge. The 00:07:27.699 --> 00:07:30.220 New American Standard does not have them, but 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:33.319 the ESV does, and the CSB does, and the NIV do. 00:07:33.459 --> 00:07:36.560 They have quotation marks. around that statement 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.019 now we've seen this already in first corinthians 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:40.740 right remember at the very beginning of chapter 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:44.879 7 paul wrote it is good for a man not to touch 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.519 a woman or have sexual relations with a woman 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:50.939 and in those same three translations there were 00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:53.360 quotation marks around it and we talked about 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:55.680 this you might recall when you see those quotation 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:59.100 marks that's the translations committee committee's 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:02.439 way of telling you that they're convinced that 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:06.319 that is not paul's opinion That that is the opinion 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.519 of those in the Corinthian church. They're saying 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.740 that, and Paul is now going to pick up on that. 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:15.220 So you say this, and now he's going to respond 00:08:15.220 --> 00:08:18.040 to it. So they're statements made by members 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:20.540 of the Corinthian church that Paul is citing, 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.100 right? So it's what some are saying. Basically, 00:08:24.100 --> 00:08:26.660 concerning this issue of things sacrificed to 00:08:26.660 --> 00:08:29.420 idols, they're like, we have full knowledge about 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:32.299 this issue. We have full knowledge about it. 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:34.759 We have theological understanding of it. We're 00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:38.080 spiritually mature enough to know how to handle 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:41.610 it. That's what Paul is referring to here. So 00:08:41.610 --> 00:08:43.549 I'm going to dub this group the know -it -all 00:08:43.549 --> 00:08:46.909 faction in the Corinthian church because they 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:50.110 feel pretty good about themselves. Now, as we 00:08:50.110 --> 00:08:52.710 read in verse 7, if you look at it quickly, and 00:08:52.710 --> 00:08:54.889 we'll look at it in depth next week, we find 00:08:54.889 --> 00:08:56.570 out that Paul doesn't agree with that statement 00:08:56.570 --> 00:08:59.710 at all. In fact, he directly contradicts him 00:08:59.710 --> 00:09:01.809 in verse 7, saying, no, there's people in the 00:09:01.809 --> 00:09:04.409 congregation who do not possess the knowledge 00:09:04.409 --> 00:09:06.710 that you're talking about. And then he's going 00:09:06.710 --> 00:09:09.110 to go on, you heard it in verses 9 to 12, to 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:11.850 talk about these other people in the church who 00:09:11.850 --> 00:09:15.210 are weak, brothers and sisters, who have a weak 00:09:15.210 --> 00:09:18.610 conscience. So the know -it -all faction is dead 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:21.490 wrong about this. They're approaching this issue 00:09:21.490 --> 00:09:25.909 with blinders on, selfishly, only thinking about 00:09:25.909 --> 00:09:28.519 themselves. Because, hey, we know everything 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:31.019 that needs to be known about this, and they're 00:09:31.019 --> 00:09:33.639 not considering the weaker members of the church. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:36.340 So they need to be corrected, and we'll get to 00:09:36.340 --> 00:09:38.500 that next week. For our purposes this morning, 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:41.379 I want you to see how Paul very briefly refers 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:45.720 to two negative things associated with the folks 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:49.840 who display this type of self -centered knowledge. 00:09:51.529 --> 00:09:53.850 And you may know people in the church like this, 00:09:53.909 --> 00:09:56.809 who have self -centered knowledge. knowledge 00:09:56.809 --> 00:09:59.149 first of all he says it reveals their arrogance 00:09:59.149 --> 00:10:05.100 right this form of knowledge Paul writes makes 00:10:05.100 --> 00:10:08.779 a person arrogant and yeah most translations 00:10:08.779 --> 00:10:12.559 use the phrase puffs them up right they're puffed 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:16.240 up which that phrase cracks me up this kind of 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:21.179 knowledge puffs up but love does what It edifies. 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:23.860 It builds up. And so what we have here in the 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:25.759 English is what we call an antithetical statement 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:29.519 that uses some alliteration to it. Knowledge 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:34.720 puffs up. Love builds up. Make sense? Now, we 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:36.779 need to qualify that statement about knowledge 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:38.399 puffing up, and we'll do that in just a moment. 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:41.519 Because if you just isolate that one statement, 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.039 you could walk out of here today thinking, oh, 00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:47.210 well, knowledge itself is a bad thing. It's a 00:10:47.210 --> 00:10:48.789 bad thing. And you might say to yourself, well, 00:10:48.909 --> 00:10:51.710 look, if seeking knowledge is going to puff me 00:10:51.710 --> 00:10:54.149 up and make me arrogant, then I'll just avoid 00:10:54.149 --> 00:10:57.129 acquiring knowledge altogether and focus 100 00:10:57.129 --> 00:11:00.200 % on just loving people. And that would be a 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:04.389 wrong conclusion. It's your motivation, your 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:07.600 attitude, and what you do with knowledge that 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:13.610 makes it either profitable or puffy. I'll say 00:11:13.610 --> 00:11:16.529 it again. It's your motivation, your attitude, 00:11:16.590 --> 00:11:19.059 and what you do with knowledge that makes it 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:22.590 either profitable or puffy. Speaking of that, 00:11:22.690 --> 00:11:26.250 don't raise your hand or shout out any names 00:11:26.250 --> 00:11:30.710 whatsoever, but have you ever met a professing 00:11:30.710 --> 00:11:33.789 Christian who has a ton of theological knowledge, 00:11:33.990 --> 00:11:37.679 but lacks humility and love in the way they display 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:43.700 it? Smart people, well -read, study and read 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:46.690 a lot, can make all kinds of arguments. They 00:11:46.690 --> 00:11:50.509 love to engage in debates. They love taking contrarian 00:11:50.509 --> 00:11:53.139 positions. so that they can impress you with 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:57.090 their nuanced ideas. But the thing is, they don't 00:11:57.090 --> 00:12:00.370 wield their knowledge for your benefit. It's 00:12:00.370 --> 00:12:02.169 not for your benefit. It's not to build up the 00:12:02.169 --> 00:12:05.629 body. It's a self -gratifying knowledge. It's 00:12:05.629 --> 00:12:08.610 a self -glorifying knowledge. They've acquired 00:12:08.610 --> 00:12:10.870 knowledge for the purpose of what? Impressing 00:12:10.870 --> 00:12:14.690 other people. All that study has made them puffed 00:12:14.690 --> 00:12:18.889 up. And what's really sad about it is oftentimes 00:12:18.889 --> 00:12:23.450 these same folks lack self -awareness. They can 00:12:23.450 --> 00:12:25.850 at times fool some people and gain a following, 00:12:26.029 --> 00:12:28.970 but most of the folks aren't actually that impressed 00:12:28.970 --> 00:12:31.129 with them because they see through it. They see 00:12:31.129 --> 00:12:34.610 the lack of humility. They see the lack of care. 00:12:35.490 --> 00:12:37.750 And Paul describes this so well in the famous 00:12:37.750 --> 00:12:40.370 love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. You've probably 00:12:40.370 --> 00:12:43.490 heard this passage a hundred times, and yet think 00:12:43.490 --> 00:12:47.120 about it in this context. If I speak with tongues 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:50.940 of men and of angels, would that be impressive, 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:54.240 by the way? You'd be impressed by somebody that 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.639 can speak that way. The tongues of men and angels. 00:12:56.980 --> 00:13:01.870 But I don't have love, I become a noisy gong 00:13:01.870 --> 00:13:05.750 or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy 00:13:05.750 --> 00:13:08.990 and I know all mysteries and all knowledge, this 00:13:08.990 --> 00:13:11.210 is hyperbolic language, right? Because obviously 00:13:11.210 --> 00:13:12.730 none of us can have those things, but Paul's 00:13:12.730 --> 00:13:14.889 making a point. If we knew all of those things, 00:13:14.950 --> 00:13:18.399 that would definitely be impressive. But I don't 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.490 have love, Paul says, I'm nothing. May we have 00:13:22.490 --> 00:13:26.269 ears to hear. that statement and protect us here 00:13:26.269 --> 00:13:29.610 at Oak Hill from falling into this kind of self 00:13:29.610 --> 00:13:32.250 -centered knowledge. So that's the first thing, 00:13:32.330 --> 00:13:35.830 arrogance. Second thing is, this type of knowledge 00:13:35.830 --> 00:13:39.210 reveals actually how foolish such a person really 00:13:39.210 --> 00:13:42.590 is. Look at verse two. If anyone supposes or 00:13:42.590 --> 00:13:46.470 imagines that he knows anything, he is not yet 00:13:46.470 --> 00:13:50.480 known as he ought to know. So catch that. Paul's 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:52.519 saying this know -it -all faction in Corinth, 00:13:53.490 --> 00:13:55.090 supposes that they know everything they need 00:13:55.090 --> 00:13:57.509 to know about this issue. We've got it figured 00:13:57.509 --> 00:14:00.820 out. But in supposing that, they've actually 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:05.299 revealed the opposite to be true. This is an 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:07.399 important truism. When the day comes that you 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:09.820 think you've got everything figured out, be sure 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:13.850 of this, you don't know as you should. Just write 00:14:13.850 --> 00:14:17.039 that down as a truism. It means that you lack 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.379 a crucial aspect of wisdom, which is the limits 00:14:20.379 --> 00:14:23.529 of your own knowledge. Knowing that there's always 00:14:23.529 --> 00:14:27.450 more to learn. Always, and therefore always a 00:14:27.450 --> 00:14:30.350 need to remain humble and to remain teachable. 00:14:30.409 --> 00:14:32.850 That goes for all of us, right up to the elder 00:14:32.850 --> 00:14:37.029 team. Always humble, always teachable. I remember 00:14:37.029 --> 00:14:39.690 Dr. MacArthur wrote this in his commentary on 00:14:39.690 --> 00:14:42.789 1 Corinthians. I probably should have put it 00:14:42.789 --> 00:14:44.970 on the screen because it's hard to process, but 00:14:44.970 --> 00:14:48.629 listen to this. He says, true knowledge is the 00:14:48.629 --> 00:14:52.269 process of passing from an unconscious state 00:14:52.269 --> 00:14:55.679 of ignorance to a conscious state of ignorance. 00:14:57.350 --> 00:15:00.809 That's great. In other words, you become truly 00:15:00.809 --> 00:15:03.110 knowledgeable when you realize that you don't 00:15:03.110 --> 00:15:04.929 know everything that you could or should know. 00:15:05.230 --> 00:15:08.799 That's when you're actually knowledgeable. It 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:12.049 requires humility, doesn't it? But the puffed 00:15:12.049 --> 00:15:13.809 up person doesn't see it this way. Their minds 00:15:13.809 --> 00:15:15.850 are closed because, again, they've got it all 00:15:15.850 --> 00:15:18.549 figured out. They are superior to everyone else 00:15:18.549 --> 00:15:20.350 in their knowledge. They don't need to listen 00:15:20.350 --> 00:15:22.509 to anybody anymore. In fact, they're not even 00:15:22.509 --> 00:15:25.190 open to learning because they feel sufficient 00:15:25.190 --> 00:15:27.830 and justified in all the things that they've 00:15:27.830 --> 00:15:31.769 studied. So when you meet somebody who's overconfident 00:15:31.769 --> 00:15:34.289 and arrogant in their display of knowledge, what 00:15:34.289 --> 00:15:36.610 Paul's saying is that's actually a sign of foolishness. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:39.919 It's foolishness. And on the flip side, when 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:42.000 you meet somebody who is knowledgeable, which 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.899 is a good thing, but shows humility and a true 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:47.379 care for you and a care for the body of Christ 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:50.179 as they share their knowledge, that is a sign 00:15:50.179 --> 00:15:53.250 of wisdom and maturity. And those are different 00:15:53.250 --> 00:15:56.830 things, aren't they? That's somebody who's concerned 00:15:56.830 --> 00:15:58.929 about the building up of others and by extension, 00:15:59.090 --> 00:16:03.289 building the body of Christ. So before we move 00:16:03.289 --> 00:16:07.929 on, as you hear this type of argument about arrogant 00:16:07.929 --> 00:16:10.509 self -serving knowledge, I want you to think 00:16:10.509 --> 00:16:12.330 about some of the places in your life where you 00:16:12.330 --> 00:16:14.990 might bump into this so that you can be on guard. 00:16:15.190 --> 00:16:16.990 Obviously, it can be found in the church, right? 00:16:17.470 --> 00:16:19.590 I've known folks like this. You probably have 00:16:19.590 --> 00:16:22.129 as well. But the warning I want to give you this 00:16:22.129 --> 00:16:25.210 morning is this type of knowledge, this arrogant, 00:16:25.330 --> 00:16:28.049 self -serving knowledge is everywhere on social 00:16:28.049 --> 00:16:31.879 media. And you may not even, it may come at you 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:34.039 and you're like, you're just, you're like, have 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:36.320 a neutral mind on and you're not being discerning 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:40.549 and it can seep into your heart. Beware of this. 00:16:40.649 --> 00:16:42.429 And yeah, I'm talking about professing Christians 00:16:42.429 --> 00:16:46.110 online. Self -appointed experts who come off 00:16:46.110 --> 00:16:48.330 as knowledgeable. They do know a lot of things. 00:16:48.750 --> 00:16:51.350 And they put themselves in the place of a teacher, 00:16:51.549 --> 00:16:55.759 but their motivation is not a godly one. They 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:57.960 aren't looking to build up you or the church. 00:16:57.980 --> 00:16:59.620 They're looking to build up their own profile 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:03.000 and their own following. And the worst of them, 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.680 I hate to say this, are the online apologists 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.890 that you'll find on places like X or YouTube 00:17:08.890 --> 00:17:11.440 or TikTok. They're the worst of them, and they 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.380 come from all variety of Christian backgrounds. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:18.299 Their goal is always views, subscriptions, and 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:21.000 the chance to brag that they win every argument. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:27.390 That's all they do. Oh, I cooked this guy. Right? 00:17:27.490 --> 00:17:29.849 I know that sounded weird coming from an old 00:17:29.849 --> 00:17:32.609 guy. I get it. But that's like their faith. I 00:17:32.609 --> 00:17:37.210 cooked this guy. That's what they're after. They're 00:17:37.210 --> 00:17:39.799 not there to build you up. They're there to build 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:42.509 themselves up. And they often do in a way that 00:17:42.509 --> 00:17:46.289 is crass and divisive and lacking in grace. They 00:17:46.289 --> 00:17:48.509 show no fruit of the Spirit in the way they display 00:17:48.509 --> 00:17:53.599 their knowledge. Bunch of noisy gongs and clanging 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.859 cymbals. Now, I'm not saying that the Internet 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:59.039 is completely devoid of good resources. There 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:01.440 are some good, healthy sites out there and some 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:03.759 good apologists. By the way, they're usually 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:06.839 smaller in subscriptions. Because you know what 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:10.470 sells these days? All the conflict and all the 00:18:10.470 --> 00:18:15.099 cooking. that takes place, right? So look, when 00:18:15.099 --> 00:18:18.180 you go online, even if you're searching for Christian 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:21.700 content, you've got to be discerning. You've 00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:23.640 got to look at the heart and the motivation behind 00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:25.900 what you're hearing. Even if it sounds really 00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:29.640 knowledgeable, ask the question, what are they 00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:33.640 building up here? By the way, if you need recommendations 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:36.240 on some good sites, some guys that do have a 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.220 right heart, I'm happy to help you with that. 00:18:39.089 --> 00:18:44.079 Okay, let's add some balance here now. into the 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:45.779 mix because again I don't want anybody walking 00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:48.400 out of here today thinking oh knowledge is really 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:52.980 bad in fact the opposite is true all over the 00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:55.740 pages of scripture you will find commands exhortation 00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:59.140 and praises for seeking out knowledge for learning 00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:03.410 for being rooted in sound doctrine so knowledge 00:19:03.410 --> 00:19:06.170 itself is not the problem knowledge itself doesn't 00:19:06.170 --> 00:19:08.769 automatically puff you up again it's your approach 00:19:08.769 --> 00:19:11.730 your motivation and your display of that knowledge 00:19:11.730 --> 00:19:16.329 that makes it either foolish or fruitful. So 00:19:16.329 --> 00:19:18.549 here's just a quick sampling of places in the 00:19:18.549 --> 00:19:20.670 New Testament where this is talked about. In 00:19:20.670 --> 00:19:23.029 Colossians 1 .9, I'll do this quickly. Colossians 00:19:23.029 --> 00:19:25.210 1 .9, Paul says that he and Timothy have not 00:19:25.210 --> 00:19:27.970 ceased to pray for the Colossian believers and 00:19:27.970 --> 00:19:30.609 to ask that they would be filled with the knowledge 00:19:30.609 --> 00:19:34.869 of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 00:19:35.869 --> 00:19:38.569 That is not an anti -intellectual statement at 00:19:38.569 --> 00:19:42.519 all. We should be engaging our minds to understand 00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:45.920 these things, to have wisdom. Romans 15, 14, 00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:48.460 he writes about the believers there. I'm convinced 00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:51.720 that you yourselves are full of goodness, being 00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:55.259 filled with all knowledge. 2 Corinthians 8, he 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:57.700 exhorts the church, abound in everything, in 00:19:57.700 --> 00:20:01.460 faith and utterance and, yes, knowledge. Romans 00:20:01.460 --> 00:20:04.900 12, 2 famously says, be transformed by the renewing 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:08.539 of your mind. Your mind, the thinking, the learning. 00:20:09.500 --> 00:20:12.660 Paul even praises doctrinal knowledge as a weapon 00:20:12.660 --> 00:20:16.549 of spiritual warfare. In 2 Corinthians 10, saying, 00:20:16.690 --> 00:20:20.210 we demolish arguments and every lofty thing raised 00:20:20.210 --> 00:20:22.670 up against the knowledge of God. We do that with 00:20:22.670 --> 00:20:26.259 what? With doctrine, with truth. It's actually 00:20:26.259 --> 00:20:29.430 a spiritual weapon that we can wield. So there's 00:20:29.430 --> 00:20:31.730 no question, Paul looks favorably on the acquisition 00:20:31.730 --> 00:20:34.529 of knowledge, of understanding truth, and being 00:20:34.529 --> 00:20:37.150 nourished by sound doctrine. He prays for it, 00:20:37.230 --> 00:20:40.579 he commands it, he applauds it. Then if you look 00:20:40.579 --> 00:20:43.119 at the Old Testament, if you just looked at the 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.119 book of Proverbs, It is a treasure trove of verses 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:49.380 that connect wisdom and life with knowledge. 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:52.019 I'm going to read this really fast. It's not 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:53.299 going to be on the screen. Listen to all this. 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:56.400 These are all Proverbs. Fools hate knowledge. 00:20:57.579 --> 00:21:00.710 Knowledge is pleasant to the soul. Take knowledge 00:21:00.710 --> 00:21:04.190 rather than choiceless gold. Wise men store up 00:21:04.190 --> 00:21:06.849 knowledge. Through knowledge the righteous are 00:21:06.849 --> 00:21:09.769 delivered. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. 00:21:10.049 --> 00:21:13.529 Every prudent man acts with knowledge. The sensible 00:21:13.529 --> 00:21:15.869 are crowned with knowledge. The tongue of the 00:21:15.869 --> 00:21:18.630 wise makes knowledge acceptable. The lips of 00:21:18.630 --> 00:21:21.950 the wise spread knowledge. The mind of the intelligent 00:21:21.950 --> 00:21:24.650 seeks knowledge. The mind of the prudent acquires 00:21:24.650 --> 00:21:27.509 knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge. 00:21:27.609 --> 00:21:30.109 I'm almost done. It is not good for a person 00:21:30.109 --> 00:21:33.109 to be without knowledge. There is gold and abundance 00:21:33.109 --> 00:21:35.349 of jewels, but the lips of knowledge are a more 00:21:35.349 --> 00:21:39.660 precious thing. That is not a subtle list, is 00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:43.289 it? Over and over again in Scripture, we're commanded 00:21:43.289 --> 00:21:45.470 to seek out knowledge, and we're warned of the 00:21:45.470 --> 00:21:50.440 consequences if we don't. The truth is, friends, 00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:53.819 every Christian should strive to be a theologian. 00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:59.509 Did you know that? Why? The word theology just 00:21:59.509 --> 00:22:02.390 means what? The study of God. And if you're a 00:22:02.390 --> 00:22:04.910 Christian, the call on your life is to know God 00:22:04.910 --> 00:22:08.269 and to seek to know more about Him. And the more 00:22:08.269 --> 00:22:10.710 diligent you are to study to know about Him, 00:22:11.180 --> 00:22:15.759 the more deeply you will come to know him. Now, 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:18.980 one of the problems in this is in modern day 00:22:18.980 --> 00:22:21.539 churches, what do we do? We say, I'll outsource 00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:24.369 that to the professionals. They're the guys who 00:22:24.369 --> 00:22:26.269 do the study. They're the guys who are trained. 00:22:26.609 --> 00:22:28.589 They know the Greek. They know the Hebrew. We'll 00:22:28.589 --> 00:22:30.990 outsource all of that. I just want to show up 00:22:30.990 --> 00:22:35.240 on Sunday and be spoon fed. But the call is for 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:37.880 you all to acquire knowledge. All the things 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:40.460 we just saw. And I don't mean that everyone has 00:22:40.460 --> 00:22:43.279 to become a professional academic or a scholar. 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:46.119 You don't have to all study the Hebrew and Greek 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:48.720 and learn every aspect of systematic theology 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.940 in church history. You could. But that's not 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:54.599 the call. But bit by bit, year by year, patiently, 00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:57.920 Sunday by Sunday, we're all called to seek after 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:01.319 knowledge and to acquire it, to store it up in 00:23:01.319 --> 00:23:05.289 our heart, in our inner man. Who is God? How 00:23:05.289 --> 00:23:07.990 does he work in our world? Who are we in relation 00:23:07.990 --> 00:23:11.509 to him? What kind of being is Jesus? How are 00:23:11.509 --> 00:23:14.250 we saved? Where does grace come from? How does 00:23:14.250 --> 00:23:16.829 faith operate? How does the Spirit guide us? 00:23:16.910 --> 00:23:19.109 What's the purpose of the church? And so much 00:23:19.109 --> 00:23:23.539 more. We're all called to be theologians in these 00:23:23.539 --> 00:23:26.359 things. And it's a lifelong process. That's the 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:29.200 cool thing. I'm not saying, hey, be this next 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:36.430 week or a month from now. We're all in this process, 00:23:36.650 --> 00:23:39.170 growing and learning, trying to be teachable 00:23:39.170 --> 00:23:42.130 in all things. It's a lifelong process, and we 00:23:42.130 --> 00:23:45.710 can embrace that process. We can enjoy the challenge. 00:23:46.269 --> 00:23:49.369 And here's the thing, you guys. It's that acquiring 00:23:49.369 --> 00:23:52.490 of knowledge about God and knowing him on a deeper 00:23:52.490 --> 00:23:56.380 level that actually fuels our worship. It fuels 00:23:56.380 --> 00:23:58.700 our worship. I've always loved this quote from 00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:00.720 John Piper. Listen carefully to this. He says, 00:24:01.250 --> 00:24:05.349 The theological mind exists to throw logs into 00:24:05.349 --> 00:24:09.900 the furnace of our affections for Christ. Look 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:13.960 at that. That is a great statement. Some of us 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:17.359 don't think that way. Do I have to acquire knowledge? 00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:20.180 Yeah, that's a log to throw on the fire that 00:24:20.180 --> 00:24:23.940 fuels my worship. Intentional theological study 00:24:23.940 --> 00:24:27.819 as an expression of love for God will only deepen 00:24:27.819 --> 00:24:29.880 your love for him. As you find out more about 00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:32.980 him, you will love him more deeply. The more 00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:35.680 we read, study, meditate, apply the word of God, 00:24:35.859 --> 00:24:39.880 the more we find ourselves in awe of God. Again, 00:24:39.940 --> 00:24:42.220 going back to Piper, he says this, like a great 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:44.539 ship on the horizon, the closer we get to the 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:52.309 Lord, the larger he looms. So balance here, right? 00:24:52.410 --> 00:24:56.460 Knowledge can puff you up, but we are still called 00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:58.880 to acquire knowledge, to seek after it with all 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:02.309 of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. So let's 00:25:02.309 --> 00:25:03.769 make sure we understand that. Okay, let's bring 00:25:03.769 --> 00:25:06.240 it together now. And really look at what Paul 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.799 is aiming at in this chapter. First, pursuing 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:12.160 fruitful knowledge, but making sure we pair it 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:18.089 with something important. Love. Love. Knowledge 00:25:18.089 --> 00:25:21.750 is essential, but it's not sufficient on its 00:25:21.750 --> 00:25:25.490 own. The starting point is right. You have to 00:25:25.490 --> 00:25:29.319 lean into sound doctrine, but knowledge and doctrine 00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:32.920 cannot be the end of the matter. Otherwise, we 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:35.799 all just become a bunch of individual noisy gongs. 00:25:37.220 --> 00:25:40.759 And you know how annoying that would be? All 00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:43.720 knowing things, but failing to love in our learning. 00:25:44.269 --> 00:25:46.329 And you know what? There are churches out there 00:25:46.329 --> 00:25:49.609 that fall into that category. There's so much 00:25:49.609 --> 00:25:52.769 about doctrine and knowledge that they're out 00:25:52.769 --> 00:25:56.480 of balance. May the Lord protect us from that. 00:25:57.079 --> 00:25:59.900 Knowledge makes one arrogant, but love edifies. 00:26:01.029 --> 00:26:03.289 If knowledge is your end goal, then you haven't 00:26:03.289 --> 00:26:05.170 learned the foundational truth about knowledge 00:26:05.170 --> 00:26:08.269 that biblically it doesn't end there. Your knowledge 00:26:08.269 --> 00:26:12.819 is incomplete until it's fulfilled in love. So 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:15.259 the mature Christian is able to study, learn, 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:18.700 know many things, and he has the ability to apply 00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:21.839 that diligent study in strengthening other believers 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:24.160 and helping the local church grow healthier. 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:27.759 That's the goal, because he has knowledge plus 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:32.099 love. Even Luther in the 16th century, this was 00:26:32.099 --> 00:26:34.079 happening, this has always happened in churches, 00:26:34.099 --> 00:26:36.099 by the way. Look what Luther said way back in 00:26:36.099 --> 00:26:38.859 the day. He said with Christians are great riches 00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:43.019 of spiritual knowledge and great treasures in 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:45.930 the way of spiritual gifts. But there are to 00:26:45.930 --> 00:26:50.910 be found few indeed, few who make the right use 00:26:50.910 --> 00:26:54.569 of such gifts and knowledge, who humble themselves 00:26:54.569 --> 00:26:57.829 to serve others according to the dictates of 00:26:57.829 --> 00:27:01.470 love. It's always been with God's people. We 00:27:01.470 --> 00:27:04.569 have to fight against this, right? It's a great 00:27:04.569 --> 00:27:07.109 challenge for any believer in any church to strive 00:27:07.109 --> 00:27:09.609 to balance knowledge and love in a healthy way. 00:27:10.009 --> 00:27:12.349 And if you'll allow me, if I can go on, it's 00:27:12.349 --> 00:27:15.089 Reformation Month, right? A little bit of a rabbit 00:27:15.089 --> 00:27:17.990 trail into church history on this, because this 00:27:17.990 --> 00:27:20.829 has been rampant in the church for 2 ,000 years. 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.099 And we talk about the swinging of the pendulum. 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:29.220 You know we do this, right? We get all excited 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:32.599 about a new thing and we swing the pendulum over 00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:34.539 here and we get out of balance and then we go, 00:27:34.660 --> 00:27:37.380 oh no, we've gone too far. And what do we do? 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:41.420 Do we move to the middle? Oh no, we swing the 00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:44.579 pendulum back this way. And so if we can see 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:46.579 that in the pages of church history, it helps 00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:48.599 us to go, no, no, we're not going to fall into 00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:51.890 that trap, right? There have been many periods 00:27:51.890 --> 00:27:53.950 in church history where Christians have done 00:27:53.950 --> 00:27:57.089 this. They swing the pendulum. All knowledge, 00:27:57.250 --> 00:28:01.940 no, all love, right? Over -emphasizing one to 00:28:01.940 --> 00:28:03.720 the exclusion of the other, and it shouldn't 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:06.259 be this way. First of all, I think it's an interesting 00:28:06.259 --> 00:28:09.119 thought experiment to consider, why do we do 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:13.349 this? Why do we jump into movements and swing 00:28:13.349 --> 00:28:15.890 the pendulum all over the place? I don't really 00:28:15.890 --> 00:28:18.630 know the answer to that, but I know we get excited 00:28:18.630 --> 00:28:22.390 about new ideas, don't we? We get excited about, 00:28:22.430 --> 00:28:26.309 I'm part of a fresh new movement, right? And 00:28:26.309 --> 00:28:28.589 then we want to be as hardcore about it as possible 00:28:28.589 --> 00:28:31.309 because I'm 100 % bought in and I'm this and 00:28:31.309 --> 00:28:33.849 I'm that. I don't know what it is about the human 00:28:33.849 --> 00:28:36.930 side. Even in my lifetime, I've seen a number 00:28:36.930 --> 00:28:39.950 of trends come into the church that all the direction, 00:28:40.029 --> 00:28:41.890 the energy of the church was moving in that direction. 00:28:42.029 --> 00:28:44.809 Everybody got behind it. And then 10 years later, 00:28:44.849 --> 00:28:46.529 we all look back and went, ah, that wasn't very 00:28:46.529 --> 00:28:49.980 good. I mean, literally, I could walk down a 00:28:49.980 --> 00:28:51.980 list of those things where now we're like, that 00:28:51.980 --> 00:28:55.369 did not bear fruit. So we've got to be careful. 00:28:55.470 --> 00:28:57.049 This is not about swinging the pendulum. It's 00:28:57.049 --> 00:28:59.430 about staying balanced on two very important 00:28:59.430 --> 00:29:02.450 biblical principles. But in terms of these swings, 00:29:02.589 --> 00:29:04.309 I'll give you a few examples of this. Back in 00:29:04.309 --> 00:29:07.680 the 12th century, there was a French theologian 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:09.900 by the name of Peter Abelard. He was from the 00:29:09.900 --> 00:29:12.640 University of Paris. He was a philosopher. And 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:14.619 he developed a form of Christian thought that 00:29:14.619 --> 00:29:18.119 today we call medieval scholasticism. And it 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:20.119 was all about a way to approach Scripture and 00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:22.650 the walk of faith. through logic and reason. 00:29:22.809 --> 00:29:26.130 It was ultra strong on knowledge and the rational 00:29:26.130 --> 00:29:29.259 side of Christianity, which for many was very, 00:29:29.299 --> 00:29:31.440 hey, this is a new and exciting movement, right? 00:29:31.619 --> 00:29:34.079 Well, there was a monk named Bernard of Clairvaux 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:37.720 in France who actually sought to have Abelard 00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:41.940 condemned as a heretic by the Pope. Bernard's 00:29:41.940 --> 00:29:44.519 theology emphasized the whole other side of the 00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:47.359 coin, the devotional side of the spiritual life. 00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:50.500 He said, look, he said, he said, Abelard is talking 00:29:50.500 --> 00:29:52.619 about intellectual pursuits that are beyond the 00:29:52.619 --> 00:29:54.460 finite mind. We shouldn't even waste our time 00:29:54.460 --> 00:29:57.569 with it. And all he did was talk about deepening 00:29:57.569 --> 00:30:00.049 our faith and increasing our love for God that 00:30:00.049 --> 00:30:02.549 could only be tied to what he said was the heart. 00:30:03.569 --> 00:30:05.990 And there's a theological error in that, which 00:30:05.990 --> 00:30:08.569 we'll get to. All about spiritual disciplines, 00:30:08.609 --> 00:30:11.650 not about intellectual pursuits. And so you have 00:30:11.650 --> 00:30:14.390 this rivalry in this period of time between the 00:30:14.390 --> 00:30:17.549 scholastics and the monastics. And people were 00:30:17.549 --> 00:30:20.950 swinging the pendulum all over the place. Interestingly, 00:30:21.150 --> 00:30:23.710 then you also see in the Reformation period and 00:30:23.710 --> 00:30:26.390 the post -Reformation period, remember the focus 00:30:26.390 --> 00:30:29.970 of the reformers was on correcting the poor theology 00:30:29.970 --> 00:30:33.009 and doctrine coming out of Rome. So the reformers 00:30:33.009 --> 00:30:35.309 emphasized the building of doctrinal systems. 00:30:35.650 --> 00:30:37.970 We already heard this morning, the writing of 00:30:37.970 --> 00:30:40.990 creeds and confessions that I would argue were 00:30:40.990 --> 00:30:45.400 necessary for reform. it was predictable that 00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:47.200 at some point there would be a pendulum swing 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:51.220 away from that kind of deep intellectual pursuits. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:54.099 And that happened in the 17th century in a movement 00:30:54.099 --> 00:30:57.710 coming out of Germany known as Pietism. And they 00:30:57.710 --> 00:31:00.829 moved away from all that doctrinal stuff. And 00:31:00.829 --> 00:31:03.509 the Pietists, you know, what they saw was these 00:31:03.509 --> 00:31:05.470 Lutheran churches were becoming very good at 00:31:05.470 --> 00:31:08.190 defending the faith, but not so much godly living. 00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:11.599 And that can happen to us, right? We can get 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:14.730 so intellectually focused on knowledge that we're 00:31:14.730 --> 00:31:17.049 not living in godly ways. And the pietists said, 00:31:17.130 --> 00:31:19.309 this is not good. And so they moved away from 00:31:19.309 --> 00:31:22.430 doctrine. And they strongly emphasized the individual's 00:31:22.430 --> 00:31:25.150 internal relationship with Christ. And that's 00:31:25.150 --> 00:31:28.490 it. It's just about me and the Lord in my private 00:31:28.490 --> 00:31:32.150 prayer closet. Pietists. And then you had John 00:31:32.150 --> 00:31:34.970 Wesley in the 18th century. He fell in with a 00:31:34.970 --> 00:31:37.309 group called the Moravians who were ultra devout 00:31:37.309 --> 00:31:40.349 in their idea of disciplined communal life. And 00:31:40.349 --> 00:31:42.849 so Wesley championed ideas in England that became 00:31:42.849 --> 00:31:47.000 known as what? Methodism. Methodism, emphasizing 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:50.980 internal faith, religious experience, holy living. 00:31:51.220 --> 00:31:54.059 But guess what came out of that movement? A lack 00:31:54.059 --> 00:31:57.730 of doctrinal seriousness. It was put on the shelf 00:31:57.730 --> 00:32:03.309 for all this other stuff. Have you seen Methodist 00:32:03.309 --> 00:32:07.740 churches today? There's almost no doctrine, right? 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:11.000 They're either so liberal or so heretical that 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:14.250 they've completely abandoned the faith. Then 00:32:14.250 --> 00:32:17.230 come the Puritans into the American colonies, 00:32:17.430 --> 00:32:20.349 right? Heavy focus on education. Founders of 00:32:20.349 --> 00:32:23.950 universities like Harvard and Princeton. Pioneers 00:32:23.950 --> 00:32:27.549 of aspects of the scientific revolution. Strong 00:32:27.549 --> 00:32:31.980 emphasis on the study of theology. Overcorrection. 00:32:31.980 --> 00:32:34.200 Because the swing of the pendulum happened again. 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:37.119 Many perceived a coldness among the Puritans 00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:39.380 and the Congregationalist churches in New England. 00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:42.519 And that led to a series of revivals in the 1800s, 00:32:42.539 --> 00:32:45.019 the great awakenings in the American colonies. 00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:47.980 And yes, a lot of good things came from the awakenings, 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:51.039 but if you really drill down deeply into the 00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:54.059 great awakenings, most of it was based not on 00:32:54.059 --> 00:32:58.309 doctrine, but on spiritual experience. Lots of 00:32:58.309 --> 00:33:00.789 charismatic activity, all the feelings going 00:33:00.789 --> 00:33:03.950 on, but these people would get saved and go back 00:33:03.950 --> 00:33:06.109 into their churches and they're not teaching 00:33:06.109 --> 00:33:09.269 foundational biblical truth there. It's all still 00:33:09.269 --> 00:33:13.089 my feels. And so even the great awakenings had 00:33:13.089 --> 00:33:16.789 a measure of problem with it. By the way, it's 00:33:16.789 --> 00:33:19.849 not a coincidence during that same period that 00:33:19.849 --> 00:33:22.809 you had the growth of these, they call themselves 00:33:22.809 --> 00:33:25.769 revivalist religions that were heretical and 00:33:25.769 --> 00:33:29.390 dangerous. The Mormon church and the Jehovah's 00:33:29.390 --> 00:33:32.829 Witnesses develop in the 1800s. Seems like the 00:33:32.829 --> 00:33:35.230 enemy used this lack of sound doctrine in that 00:33:35.230 --> 00:33:37.869 period to pick people off and drag them into 00:33:37.869 --> 00:33:40.619 these cults. And then you have the sad truth 00:33:40.619 --> 00:33:42.440 that the lack of theological knowledge in that 00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:45.180 period weakened the church's ability to respond 00:33:45.180 --> 00:33:48.559 to a whole bunch of intellectual attacks that 00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:51.480 were coming on all fronts. The empiricism of 00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:55.049 the Enlightenment period. the skepticism of German 00:33:55.049 --> 00:33:57.589 higher criticism of the Bible, the development 00:33:57.589 --> 00:34:01.799 of Darwinian evolution, right? And finally, the 00:34:01.799 --> 00:34:04.099 church failed to confront the liberalism that 00:34:04.099 --> 00:34:06.500 infected all of our mainline denominations in 00:34:06.500 --> 00:34:09.699 the early 1900s and also produced the out -of 00:34:09.699 --> 00:34:13.960 -balance Pentecostal movement. All of this came 00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:16.719 about because we didn't balance these two things. 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:19.699 And in this sense, all of these things developed 00:34:19.699 --> 00:34:23.159 because there was a lack of intellectual biblical 00:34:23.159 --> 00:34:27.320 knowledge. in this country. And so you see the 00:34:27.320 --> 00:34:30.469 fruit of it, and it's not pretty. These movements, 00:34:30.570 --> 00:34:33.880 by the way, brought about another swing of the 00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:37.380 pendulum in our lifetimes, and we call it fundamentalism. 00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:41.000 Sorry, there it is. Fundamentalism, another swing 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:44.039 back. Well, now we got to change that. Everything's 00:34:44.039 --> 00:34:46.860 been about feels. Now we have fundamentalism, 00:34:46.860 --> 00:34:49.119 right? This moralistic movement that emphasizes 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:52.420 strict lifestyle choices and retreating from 00:34:52.420 --> 00:34:55.469 the world into our institutions. Now we point 00:34:55.469 --> 00:34:57.449 our fingers at the world and judge them rather 00:34:57.449 --> 00:35:00.409 than engage unbelievers. Pendulum, pendulum, 00:35:00.610 --> 00:35:03.429 pendulum, back and forth, all over the place. 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:10.010 It's exhausting, isn't it? And sometimes this 00:35:10.010 --> 00:35:12.690 debate about knowledge versus love gets wrongly 00:35:12.690 --> 00:35:14.610 framed. It's called the head versus, how many 00:35:14.610 --> 00:35:16.230 of you guys have heard this phrase? Head versus 00:35:16.230 --> 00:35:23.570 heart. Don't buy it. Don't buy it. It's a false 00:35:23.570 --> 00:35:27.119 dichotomy. That is not language that the Bible 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:30.349 ever uses. Head versus heart. When we look at 00:35:30.349 --> 00:35:32.429 Scripture, be it the Old Testament or the New, 00:35:32.610 --> 00:35:35.289 what we see is an integration of those concepts. 00:35:35.389 --> 00:35:38.829 It's all categorized as our inner man, right? 00:35:40.300 --> 00:35:42.139 Our thinking, all these things, it's our inner. 00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:46.039 I take a position called dichotomy. We are dichotomous. 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:49.320 We're two parts. We're physical and we're incorporeal. 00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:53.599 Big word, right? We're body and soul. We're body 00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:55.539 and spirit. Soul and spirit being synonymous 00:35:55.539 --> 00:35:58.360 with each other. So this is all our inner man. 00:35:58.460 --> 00:35:59.780 We have our outer man. We have our inner man. 00:36:00.170 --> 00:36:02.289 And the Bible uses all kinds of terms for this. 00:36:02.349 --> 00:36:07.349 Our heart, our mind, our soul, our spirit. But 00:36:07.349 --> 00:36:09.250 those things are not to be divided up and not 00:36:09.250 --> 00:36:13.369 pitted against each other. Our knowing and our 00:36:13.369 --> 00:36:17.170 loving both come from that one integrated place 00:36:17.170 --> 00:36:19.949 of our inner man. That's where everything is 00:36:19.949 --> 00:36:22.269 happening. Thinking, feeling, understanding, 00:36:22.670 --> 00:36:25.909 desiring, willing, discerning, choosing, loving 00:36:25.909 --> 00:36:31.210 from our inner man. So it's not head versus heart. 00:36:32.090 --> 00:36:34.309 And you see this all over in scripture, but I'll 00:36:34.309 --> 00:36:36.530 give you Philippians 1 because this is such a 00:36:36.530 --> 00:36:38.809 great example of it. Paul says this. He says, 00:36:38.829 --> 00:36:42.050 it's my prayer that your love may abound more 00:36:42.050 --> 00:36:45.369 and more with knowledge and all discernment. 00:36:45.769 --> 00:36:47.590 So he seems to think that's all one integrated 00:36:47.590 --> 00:36:51.889 thing, isn't it? So that you may approve, that's 00:36:51.889 --> 00:36:54.630 also an act of the inner man, approve what is 00:36:54.630 --> 00:36:57.900 excellent. And so be pure and blameless for the 00:36:57.900 --> 00:37:00.030 day of Christ. filled with the fruit of righteousness 00:37:00.030 --> 00:37:02.289 that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory 00:37:02.289 --> 00:37:06.010 and praise of God. Paul doesn't pray for knowledge 00:37:06.010 --> 00:37:09.349 instead of love or love instead of knowledge. 00:37:09.389 --> 00:37:12.650 He prays for love that is marked by knowledge 00:37:12.650 --> 00:37:18.599 and discernment, integrated. Do you see it? Two 00:37:18.599 --> 00:37:21.159 other key passages I want to look at this morning 00:37:21.159 --> 00:37:23.360 that teaches the same thing. In Ephesians 4, 00:37:23.579 --> 00:37:25.320 I'm going to put them on the screen. In Ephesians 00:37:25.320 --> 00:37:27.760 4, we see another place where Paul talks about 00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:31.530 building up, edifying, Through knowledge and 00:37:31.530 --> 00:37:35.750 love. Ephesians 4. You probably know this passage. 00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:41.699 And he, God, gave some as apostles, some as prophets, 00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:45.079 and some as evangelists, and some as pastor teachers. 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:48.820 For what purpose? Why did God give us those people? 00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:51.699 For the equipping of the saints for the work 00:37:51.699 --> 00:37:55.980 of service. Okay, and to what end? To the building 00:37:55.980 --> 00:37:58.829 up of the body. Well, what does that mean to 00:37:58.829 --> 00:38:01.050 build up the body of Christ? What follows then 00:38:01.050 --> 00:38:03.110 are four things that define what it means to 00:38:03.110 --> 00:38:05.550 be built up as a church body. Here they are. 00:38:06.230 --> 00:38:09.610 Until we attain to the unity of the faith. So 00:38:09.610 --> 00:38:12.760 number one is building up means unity. And of 00:38:12.760 --> 00:38:14.900 the knowledge of the Son of God. Number two, 00:38:14.900 --> 00:38:18.739 knowing Jesus more and more. To a mature man 00:38:18.739 --> 00:38:21.159 to the measure of the stature which belongs to 00:38:21.159 --> 00:38:23.900 the fullness of Christ. Third thing, growing 00:38:23.900 --> 00:38:27.050 in spiritual maturity. As a result, we are no 00:38:27.050 --> 00:38:28.989 longer to be children tossed here and there by 00:38:28.989 --> 00:38:31.730 waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, 00:38:31.769 --> 00:38:34.949 by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful 00:38:34.949 --> 00:38:38.570 scheming. Number four of building up, stability 00:38:38.570 --> 00:38:42.150 and doctrine that protects us from deception. 00:38:43.429 --> 00:38:46.030 So our pursuit of knowledge shows us what is 00:38:46.030 --> 00:38:50.570 true and love directs how we use that truth for 00:38:50.570 --> 00:38:56.719 the good of our fellow members. Make sense? Then 00:38:56.719 --> 00:38:58.519 Paul goes on. This is really the key part of 00:38:58.519 --> 00:39:03.670 this passage. Speaking the truth in love. Seal 00:39:03.670 --> 00:39:07.610 that in your mind. Speaking truth, knowledge, 00:39:07.690 --> 00:39:12.099 in love. We're to grow up in all aspects into 00:39:12.099 --> 00:39:14.800 him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the 00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:17.599 whole body, being fitted and held together by 00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:20.599 what every joint supplies, according to the proper 00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:23.900 working of each individual part, causes the growth 00:39:23.900 --> 00:39:27.409 of the body for what? for the building up of 00:39:27.409 --> 00:39:32.440 itself in love. The body imagery here, guys, 00:39:32.500 --> 00:39:35.159 is stunning, isn't it? Each member of the local 00:39:35.159 --> 00:39:38.699 church is connected to the other. We're fit and 00:39:38.699 --> 00:39:42.219 held together, right? And all of us relying on 00:39:42.219 --> 00:39:45.619 what? The proper working of each individual part. 00:39:46.380 --> 00:39:48.800 It's beautiful, right? And when that happens, 00:39:48.880 --> 00:39:52.400 what happens? Growth of the body. But notice 00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:54.699 again what sparks it. Speaking the truth in love. 00:39:55.639 --> 00:39:58.000 Speaking the truth in love, which is done, by 00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:00.440 the way, in multiple settings. It happens from 00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:03.179 the pulpit. It happens in small groups. It happens 00:40:03.179 --> 00:40:05.980 in normal, ordinary conversations that we have 00:40:05.980 --> 00:40:09.000 together. Speaking the truth in love. Knowledge 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:12.300 of the truth communicated with care and concern 00:40:12.300 --> 00:40:16.920 for the people receiving it. Knowledge alone 00:40:16.920 --> 00:40:20.320 will make you arrogant, but knowledge expressed 00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:31.119 in love will build up. You catching it? Here's 00:40:31.119 --> 00:40:32.980 the other key passage. This was our call to worship 00:40:32.980 --> 00:40:36.440 from earlier, from 2 Peter 1. It says this, His 00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:39.820 divine power has granted to us everything pertaining 00:40:39.820 --> 00:40:42.920 to life and godliness through the true knowledge 00:40:42.920 --> 00:40:45.840 of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 00:40:46.519 --> 00:40:49.760 For by these He has granted to us His precious 00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:53.110 and magnificent promises. so that by them you 00:40:53.110 --> 00:40:56.449 may become partakers of the divine nature, having 00:40:56.449 --> 00:40:58.869 escaped the corruption that is in the world by 00:40:58.869 --> 00:41:02.579 lust. Peter says these are fantastic, beautiful 00:41:02.579 --> 00:41:05.920 things to know. Knowledge of God and his power 00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:08.500 in giving us everything we need. Knowledge of 00:41:08.500 --> 00:41:11.179 his tremendous promises. But friends, listen, 00:41:11.340 --> 00:41:14.579 just knowing about those things is not going 00:41:14.579 --> 00:41:16.340 to guarantee that you're going to live a godly 00:41:16.340 --> 00:41:22.230 life. Such lofty knowledge has to produce. character 00:41:22.230 --> 00:41:25.110 traits in us, right? And this is what he goes 00:41:25.110 --> 00:41:27.690 on to talk about. He says, for this very reason, 00:41:27.829 --> 00:41:31.199 for this very reason, because of that knowledge 00:41:31.199 --> 00:41:34.440 that you need to have, make every effort to supplement 00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:37.019 your faith, and look at this list, with moral 00:41:37.019 --> 00:41:40.389 excellence. And your moral excellence add what? 00:41:41.050 --> 00:41:44.679 Knowledge. And add to your knowledge self -control. 00:41:44.860 --> 00:41:47.480 And your self -control with steadfastness. And 00:41:47.480 --> 00:41:50.340 your steadfastness with godliness. And your godliness 00:41:50.340 --> 00:41:52.880 with brotherly kindness. And your brotherly kindness 00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:57.150 with, there it is again, with love. As Peter 00:41:57.150 --> 00:42:00.170 says, a true knowledge of him who called us by 00:42:00.170 --> 00:42:03.650 his own glory will produce in us a laundry list 00:42:03.650 --> 00:42:07.090 of things that build up the body of Christ. Including, 00:42:07.130 --> 00:42:10.130 you see the last two? Brotherly kindness and 00:42:10.130 --> 00:42:16.030 love. I read an article this week that this author 00:42:16.030 --> 00:42:18.730 described knowledge in this way. I thought it 00:42:18.730 --> 00:42:20.889 was really helpful. I'll share it with you here 00:42:20.889 --> 00:42:24.590 as we close. He said, doctrinal knowledge is 00:42:24.590 --> 00:42:27.090 to the Christian life what blood is to the human 00:42:27.090 --> 00:42:31.480 body. Doctrinal knowledge is to the Christian 00:42:31.480 --> 00:42:34.489 what blood is to the human body. Blood flows 00:42:34.489 --> 00:42:36.929 through the vessels, and when it does, it gives 00:42:36.929 --> 00:42:40.050 life to the whole body. But if you just collect 00:42:40.050 --> 00:42:43.380 blood in a big bucket, And let it sit there? 00:42:44.550 --> 00:42:48.469 That's unnatural. That's unhealthy. Because blood 00:42:48.469 --> 00:42:51.860 isn't designed to be stored in a bucket. It's 00:42:51.860 --> 00:42:53.760 designed to flow through vessels and veins and 00:42:53.760 --> 00:42:56.900 arteries. In the same way, our knowledge, the 00:42:57.289 --> 00:43:00.230 knowledge of doctrinal truth, is not meant to 00:43:00.230 --> 00:43:03.070 be pulled in a giant theological bucket and just 00:43:03.070 --> 00:43:05.969 sit there. That is unhealthy. That is unnatural. 00:43:07.159 --> 00:43:09.760 Sound doctrine and a robust understanding of 00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:14.150 God is meant to flow through the body. Flow through 00:43:14.150 --> 00:43:16.829 the body, producing fruit, leading to worship, 00:43:17.070 --> 00:43:21.050 making us more like Christ. So again, a Christian 00:43:21.050 --> 00:43:24.429 should pursue knowledge diligently, but do it 00:43:24.429 --> 00:43:28.750 while making love its regulating principle. Knowledge 00:43:28.750 --> 00:43:32.480 asks this. Knowledge says, what is true? What 00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:37.420 is true? And love asks, how can I take that knowledge 00:43:37.420 --> 00:43:40.460 and display it in a way that builds other people 00:43:40.460 --> 00:43:44.699 up? And that's important, by the way, for anybody 00:43:44.699 --> 00:43:47.099 who teaches in the church. So anybody here who 00:43:47.099 --> 00:43:51.039 teaches, elders, small group leaders, anybody 00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:54.500 who teaches, our goal in teaching isn't to say, 00:43:54.699 --> 00:43:58.500 well, what interesting things can I share with 00:43:58.500 --> 00:44:02.389 the people? Or worse than that, things that will 00:44:02.389 --> 00:44:05.780 impress them. Oh, I've done all this study. I've 00:44:05.780 --> 00:44:07.619 acquired this knowledge. So how can I now go 00:44:07.619 --> 00:44:12.309 out and impress people in my teaching? No. Our 00:44:12.309 --> 00:44:15.289 challenge starts with this. First of all, what 00:44:15.329 --> 00:44:19.820 does this passage teach me? That's where it starts. 00:44:19.900 --> 00:44:22.480 What does it teach me? What does this passage 00:44:22.480 --> 00:44:27.570 require of me as a response? What does it tell 00:44:27.570 --> 00:44:30.250 me about my heart? How does this passage correct 00:44:30.250 --> 00:44:34.670 me? And then, then, most importantly, after I've 00:44:34.670 --> 00:44:37.309 done a personal inventory of my own heart, then 00:44:37.309 --> 00:44:40.690 I can ask, how do I relay this knowledge to my 00:44:40.690 --> 00:44:43.550 church family in a way that will challenge them? 00:44:43.980 --> 00:44:47.039 and build them up in the faith. But do you see 00:44:47.039 --> 00:44:49.219 the different motivation there? I first of all 00:44:49.219 --> 00:44:52.519 dealt with the passage for me, from my heart, 00:44:52.619 --> 00:44:56.159 so that God can challenge me. And then I don't 00:44:56.159 --> 00:44:59.260 go to teach to say, how can I impress the people 00:44:59.260 --> 00:45:02.949 with my incredible wisdom? No, how can I take 00:45:02.949 --> 00:45:06.179 that which has humbled me and now bring it to 00:45:06.179 --> 00:45:08.159 the people and say, guys, feed on this. This 00:45:08.159 --> 00:45:13.230 is a beautiful truth. It will build you up. So 00:45:13.230 --> 00:45:15.050 do we all need to strive towards knowledge and 00:45:15.050 --> 00:45:17.670 sound doctrine? Yes. But then ask the question, 00:45:17.829 --> 00:45:21.030 what is theology for? What is the study of God 00:45:21.030 --> 00:45:25.570 ultimately for? Am I my brother's keeper? Has 00:45:25.570 --> 00:45:28.510 what you know caused you to love your church 00:45:28.510 --> 00:45:33.150 family more? Make sure you come back next Sunday, 00:45:33.190 --> 00:45:35.710 because we're going to see how this practically 00:45:35.710 --> 00:45:38.389 plays out in the life of Corinth in the first 00:45:38.389 --> 00:45:40.570 century, and we'll talk about ways to bridge 00:45:40.570 --> 00:45:43.369 the cultural gap. to our day today. Make sense? 00:45:43.530 --> 00:45:52.349 Amen? All right, let's bow our heads. Heavenly 00:45:52.349 --> 00:45:55.909 Father, thank you for the challenge of Paul's 00:45:55.940 --> 00:45:58.579 words here that you, by your Spirit, carried 00:45:58.579 --> 00:46:02.760 him along to write. And as we break it down and 00:46:02.760 --> 00:46:04.800 parse it and we learn about knowledge and how 00:46:04.800 --> 00:46:08.119 it can puff us up, and we look at love and how 00:46:08.119 --> 00:46:12.090 it can build up, and Lord, our temptation, our 00:46:12.090 --> 00:46:16.369 tendency is to swing the pendulum to all knowledge 00:46:16.369 --> 00:46:19.530 or all love and to exclude the other. Lord, would 00:46:19.530 --> 00:46:22.769 you protect us from that? Would you prevent that 00:46:22.769 --> 00:46:24.969 from happening in our individual lives and in 00:46:24.969 --> 00:46:27.190 the life of this church so that we stay balanced, 00:46:27.429 --> 00:46:30.610 so we understand what true knowledge is about, 00:46:30.769 --> 00:46:33.329 what it does for us, and how it challenges us 00:46:33.329 --> 00:46:35.590 first so that we can then display it to others 00:46:35.590 --> 00:46:39.090 and love them through the teaching of the things 00:46:39.090 --> 00:46:41.250 that we're learning. God, it seems like such 00:46:41.250 --> 00:46:44.030 a simple command when we stop and think about 00:46:44.030 --> 00:46:47.019 it, but it's hard for us because We continue, 00:46:47.079 --> 00:46:50.320 even as redeemed saints, to be sinners. And so, 00:46:50.340 --> 00:46:52.900 Lord, correct us. Show us our own hearts for 00:46:52.900 --> 00:46:55.039 everybody here who is looking at this issue now. 00:46:55.260 --> 00:46:57.480 And especially for my brothers and sisters in 00:46:57.480 --> 00:46:59.380 the room who are learned, who do study a lot. 00:46:59.599 --> 00:47:02.480 Lord, may it humble us. May it drag us back, 00:47:02.599 --> 00:47:04.920 maybe kicking and screaming, but drag us back 00:47:04.920 --> 00:47:07.760 to the middle to say, how am I doing? And for 00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:11.199 those that have just ignored study and don't 00:47:11.199 --> 00:47:13.909 feel like they have to do. any pursuit of knowledge. 00:47:14.070 --> 00:47:16.989 Will you encourage them, Lord, to again come 00:47:16.989 --> 00:47:19.329 into the middle and to begin to do that for themselves 00:47:19.329 --> 00:47:22.550 and to show them how that will help them to grow 00:47:22.550 --> 00:47:25.289 in their knowledge and love of you. Keep us in 00:47:25.289 --> 00:47:27.710 balance, Lord, for your glory and for our good 00:47:27.710 --> 00:47:30.349 as a body. And thank you again for our time this 00:47:30.349 --> 00:47:32.170 morning. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.