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was,—would m eat of th is bind (which was ab u n d an t), which had been offered to false gods, be unclean for Christians to eat? The council held at Jerusalem had condemned the practice. (Acts 15:28, 29) “ F o r it seemed good to the H oly Ghost, and to us, to la y upon you no g re a te r bur den than these necessary th in gs t T h at y e abstain from m eats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangle!!, and from fornication; from which if ye keep you rselves, ye sh all do w ell.” The Holy Spirit here seeks to correct a growing legality of thought promul gated by th e Jews, and to show th a t false gods are not gods a t all, and th a t such meat was not different from any other m eat; b u t th a t th ere was a p rin ciple a t stake for Christians in th eir relation to others which was of vital importance. Paul was a Jew and nad been an intense legalist, but he had come into th e liberty wherew ith Christ m aketh free (Gal. 5:1) “ Stand fa st, therefore, in th e liberty w h erew ith C h rist made us free, and be not entangled again w ith the yok e of bondage.” a liberty which he calls “ glorious,” (Rom. 8:21) . “ B ecause the creature itse lf also shall be delivered from the bondage o f corrup tion into the glorious lib erty of the chil dren of God.” a liberty which we could wish every believer could understand. A Christian is a free man. The tru th makes him free. His liberty must be regulated by his own conscience, but th a t conscience must be subject to the revealed Word of God. The question ■with the Christian will not be “Will certain actions do me h arm ?” bu t “Will they do me good?” There are two suggestive words here: “Expedient” which means “ advanta geous” (th a t which will bring th e best resu lts for all) and “edify” which means “ to build up.” Lawful things may not be expedient (Rom. 1 4 : 1 5 - 2 0 ) they may no t edify (1 Cor. 1 0 :23 ). The question is set tled by not seeking your own .but o th e rs’
welfare. {‘Phil. 2:4, 5) “The earth is th e Lord’s. . All belongs to Him (1 Tim. 4 :4 ) and “ all things are yours.” (2) The L im itations of L iberty, vs. 27-30 “But * * * ea t not for jjis sake.” The Christian life is to be regulated by th e Word of God. There are no hard and fast rules or lines concerfiing de ta il in th e m atter of eating, drinking, clothing, living, amusements, etc., bu t th ere are many th ing s which are lawful which may be inexpedient. We do not live unto ourselves, nor for ourselves. We are our b ro th ers’ keepers. Our Lord was accused by the Pharisees of eating and drinking w ith sinners, (Luke 5:29-32) b u t He was seeking to save file sinners. How far should our liberty extend? (IC or. 8:9) “ B u t tak e heed lest l»y an y m eans this liberty of you rs become a stum bling-block to them that are w eak.” We must remember th e weak brother. We must seek to avoid being a stum bling block to him. Be ready to yield your rig h ts for the righ t. P u t highest things first. When you build a house, even, you are to avoid a contingency. (Deut. 22 :8 ) “ W hen thou buildest a n ew house, then thou sh alt m ake a battlem ent fo r th y roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if an y man fa ll from thence.” We are responsible for others. The question should not be “W hat is per missible? bu t “W hat is profitable?” \ ou have a rig h t to do many things. You can dance. You can play cards. But can you glorify God in doing so? You have a rig h t to ren t your house for some purposes not the best, bu t can you do it righteously? ( 1 Thess. 5:22) (3) The Law of Love, vs. 31-33 “Not seeking mine own profit, bu t the .profit of many.” These verses accentuate w hat has al ready been said. They p u t emphasis upon th e Christian’s obligation to live a life of sacrifice for the sake of others. To be thinking of th e rights and needs of “Number Two” in place of “Number
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