Six Positive Principles for Proper Practice | Part 2

What is the difference between a rule and a principle?

Listen to Adrian Rogers. The Bible is not so much a book of rules, but principles. Now again, I want to say that if you are an immature Christian, you're going to be looking for little rules, because you want to find loopholes in laws. You take these principles and live by these principles, and I believe when you meet the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll hear Him say to you, Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truth, simply stated by Adrian Rogers. First Corinthians chapter six reveals six positive principles to live by every day. Now, in part one of this insightful message, we learned that when making daily decisions, we should begin by asking ourselves, Does this bring me to my appointed goal, or does it hinder me? Am I brought under the power of anything other than Jesus Christ?

Even if this doesn't hurt me, will it hurt somebody else? If you have your Bible, turn to First Corinthians chapter six will begin in verse 12 as Adrian Rogers reveals the final three principles in six positive principles for proper practice. As you go through life, don't let your head run away with your heart. Knowledge puffs you up, but love builds up.

And we're here to operate by love. There are some things that I don't do, not because I think in the doing of them I would be harmed. There are certain things I don't do because in the doing of them somebody else would be harmed.

Somebody else would be caused to stumble. Somebody else may think less of me than they would have if I didn't do it. So, you can't just ask yourself about anything, Well, will it hurt me? Will it hurt me? You have to ask yourself this bigger question, Will it hurt somebody else?

It's very selfish simply to ask, Will it hurt me? Now let me give you a couple of verses for your margin. Put in the margin Romans 14 verse 13.

Listen to it. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore. You're not to judge me and I'm not to judge you about doubtful things. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Now what that means is I'm to be very easy on you and I'm to be very hard on me. I'm not to judge you if you do something that I think you ought not to do, but I'm not to do anything that would cause you to stumble.

Listen to it again. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Now most of us do just the opposite, don't we?

We're very easy on ourselves and very hard on others. But this scripture says we're to be very hard on ourselves and very easy on others. Now I want you to listen to Romans 14 verse 21. And this is a key verse.

Listen to it. It is good neither to eat flesh nor drink wine nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended or is made weak. That settles the issue of social drinking for me.

Right there. You're wondering about social drinking? Is it right or wrong to socially drink?

Well, the apostle Paul says here it's good neither to eat meat or drink wine or do anything whereby your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Now in America the problem of alcoholism is a big problem. We've got an army of walking dead, millions who are, apart from the grace of God, incurable alcoholics.

We've got homes that have been turned into hell holes, highways that have been turned into slaughter pens because of beverage alcohol. Now the liquor people, they will tell you, you know, moderation is the answer. Just be moderate. Be a moderate drinker. But they never say that everybody starts out a moderate drinker. They say, well, you know, moderation, it's just like overeating. You ought not to overeat. You ought not to overdrink. Well, it's not just like overeating. I've heard of people who have been arrested for driving drunk.

I've never heard of anyone arrested for driving fat. There's a difference. And they know there's a difference.

But now you listen to me. Moderation is not the answer to the liquor problem. It's the cause of it. If everybody who drank got skunked drunk, then you could do something about it. But you see it's the man of distinction who drinks who encourages other people to drink. Do you know why I don't drink?

Well, a lot of reasons. One man said when he was a little kid he saw a drunk trying to get in a car and he said the drunk had one leg outside the car door and he kept slamming the car door on his leg. He said, I didn't know anything about the Bible or anything else, but I made up my mind I would not do anything to make me that stupid.

When Shakespeare said, what fools men are to put that in the mouths that steals their brains away. But now suppose I said, look, I can handle it. I cut the grass. I want to come in and knock back a cool one. I want to sit and watch the ball game and the World Series and I want to have a six pack there. I just want to enjoy it, have some buddies over. We go out to dinner. We like to have a cocktail.

Or, you know, wine goes good with this food or that food. We're not drunkards. We're not bad people, pastor.

We're just good folks. We drink in moderation. We don't believe in drunkenness any more than you do.

Well, suppose I did that. Suppose I would go to a restaurant, order some beer, some wine, keep a little in my refrigerator, keep some up in the shelf for Christmas and holidays and New Years. Now let's suppose you've got a boy or girl that comes to this church and that boy or girl says, Mom, Dad, should I drink?

You say, well, honey, I don't think it's a good idea for you to drink. Well, Mom, Pastor Rogers does. He's a good man. Pastor Rogers never gets drunk. Pastor Rogers loves God. He does.

I believe I will. And then that child becomes one of those alcoholics. And nobody knows who's going to become one. Everybody thinks somebody else will. Nobody ever knows. No one ever starts out to be one. First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man. Nobody ever knows who's going to be what. Now, as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to drink the stuff.

You know why? Let me just give you this verse. Listen to it.

It is good, the Bible says, neither, neither, listen to it, it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. See, that's the principle of example. It grieves me to see these athletes, you know, these athletes that have this God-given ability, wonderful, men with muscles that ripple, minds that work, they're coordinated. And then the beer people say, would you get on television and talk about our beer for us? Do you know what that is? It's a form of prostitution where those marvelous athletes prostitute their God-given ability to somehow get in children's minds that there's a link between being an athlete and drinking beer, which is sheer unmitigated stupidity. No link between that at all. But you see the world is very clever isn't it?

The world wants these kids to associate drinking beer with that success. They never show them a drunk in a back alley covered with vomit and flies and rats running over his nose. They never show that. Of course not. Now why don't I do it?

I'll tell you why I don't do it. Now you may say I'm free to do it and indeed you are. As a matter of fact you might search the Bible and try to find out this is where somebody made Jesus turn water into wine. You don't even know what kind of wine that was. That's a generic word which simply means drink. It does not necessarily mean that it was intoxicating at all.

I don't believe it was. But you're looking for a loophole. Why don't you live by principle?

Why don't you just simply take a principle and say this is a principle. I won't do anything that will cause somebody else to stumble. Now is your life going to be ruined if you say I'm not going to drink this or this? No, your life will be enhanced.

But I'll tell you whether your life is hurt or better there will be a lot of other people that will be better if you just simply leave it alone. Now there's the first principle of expediency. Does it bring me on my way? There's another principle, the principle of enslavement. There's another principle, the principle of example. Now here's the fourth principle and it's the principle of edification. Look if you will here in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 23. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.

We've already dealt with that. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Now what does the word edify mean?

Well what are we in? We're in an edifice. The edify means to build up.

An edifice is a building. Everything that you do is either building you up or tearing you down. Now you have to ask yourself about anything that you do, does this build me up or does this pull me down? Does it tear me down? So every film you watch you have to say, does this build me up or does it tear me down?

Every program that you enter into, does this build me up or does this bring me down? Every friendship. Do you know what a real friend is? A real friend is somebody that makes you a better person. Anybody that does not make you a better person by being in their midst is not truly a friend. Anybody that pulls you down, every conversation has to pass this test.

Is this something that builds or is it something that destroys? Now entertainment is legitimate. If you think that I'm one who doesn't enjoy entertainment, you don't know me. If you think I'm one who doesn't enjoy sports, a good joke, a picnic, going fishing, or rollicking with my kids or anything like that, I love that. Vacation is wonderful. That's a part of life.

God made us that way. Recreation literally means re-creation. That's where we get the term. You see, what does true entertainment do? It relaxes, refreshes, renews, and restores.

It re-creates, and you need that. That's one of the reasons we're building a family life center right here. Now there's some people who say, well, I don't believe in all that entertainment down there.

You know your problem? You don't know how God made human beings. Boys and girls have a God-given instinct. And if we don't meet those needs, somebody else will in a different context. And I'm grateful that as a church that we can help kids to have legitimate recreation that builds character and becomes a laboratory where we can work out what we teach in the Sunday school. Thank God for that. And it's not just kids that need it.

Adults need it. But I'm going to tell you something else. There's a so-called kind of entertainment that debases and degrades.

The devil is very clever. Do you know what most of your sitcoms are about today? Do you know what they're about? What? Sex, alcohol, drugs, and now abortion and sodomy. That's come in. And in the context of all of that, holy things are being laughed at. Do you know why?

Do you think that just happened? I know. It's a part of a plan. Who's plan? Satan's plan.

Why? Because the devil knows that if he can get you to laugh at something, it will be very hard for you to take it seriously again. And so we have a generation that is laughing its way into hell. Laughing its way into hell. Laughing at that which God has condemned. Laughing at sodomy. Laughing at adultery. Laughing at fornication. Laughing at drunkenness.

You can laugh your way into hell, but you can't laugh your way out once you get there. You watch certain things, they don't build you up. You feel kind of dirty after you've watched it.

Kind of grimy. It doesn't edify you. It doesn't renew you. It doesn't refresh you.

It doesn't restore you. It doesn't relax you. It degrades you. It debilitates you.

It drags you down. Now Paul said it may be lawful but it doesn't edify. See there's the principle of edification. Now let me give you another principle.

Look if you will in chapter 10 again and verse 31, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Here's a big principle. It's the principle of exaltation. Exaltation. Does this thing exalt the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh you say, well Pastor we're not talking about church now.

We're talking about daily life. That's exactly what Paul is talking about. He says whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Everything you do either honors or dishonors the Lord.

Everything. Every conversation, every friendship, every vacation, every meal, every business transaction either honors or dishonors the Lord. You have to ask yourself this question. Is God glorified by what I'm doing? Is God glorified by what I'm doing?

Whatever you do in word or deed do how what? A double L to the glory of God. The way you dress, do you dress for the glory of God? Some girls go out on a date and things they ought not to even come downstairs in.

One of these gownless evening straps. I mean, would you go out if Jesus Christ were you escort? Is that the way you'd dress? I mean would you tell that story if Jesus Christ were one of the guys in the crowd? Can you say, Lord Jesus, this is what I'm doing for your glory? Whatever you do in word or deed do all to the glory of God.

Now I know there are people listening to me right now. You say that man is a fruit loop. He doesn't know what life is all about. I know that. I mean you're coming from a different paradigm than I am altogether. See I'm a Christian. I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. Christ is Lord. Christ is Lord. I'm not trying to teach billy goats not to butt. You don't have any understanding of what I'm talking about.

I am talking about people who know God, who love the Lord Jesus Christ, who are looking for practical principles for proper practice. I said it. All right now listen. Listen. There's the principle of exaltation whatever you do. Do all to the glory of God. Now let me give you the last one and it's the principle of evangelism. Continue to read. I'm in chapter 10 verse 32.

Look at it. Give none offense neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles nor to the church of God even as I please all men in all things not seeking mine own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved. The last principle is the principle of evangelism. The principle of evangelism.

Now what determines how I'm going to live? Well is there anything that keeps me from bringing somebody else to Jesus Christ? Then for me it's wrong. Now Paul said I'm not going to offend the Jews. I'm not going to offend the Gentiles. I am not going to offend the church of God.

I'm going to try to be as pleasant to all of these as I can possibly be. Not that I'm going to compromise my convictions. But listen, even as I please all men in all things not seeking mine own profit.

I am not asking what is best for me. But he says I'm doing this for the profit of many that they might be saved. Every man, every woman, every boy, every girl that I meet, I ought to be moving them closer to Jesus. And I can't do anything, say anything, give anything, buy anything, go anywhere, eat anything, drink anything, anything that keeps me from somehow bringing those people closer to Jesus Christ. See that's a guiding principle.

I've told our people this. There's a man in Nashville where we have our denominational headquarters. He loves God. He went into a laundry to have his shirts done. He was one of these fellows, his collars had to be just right, cuffs just right. I don't know whether he liked a lot of starch or a little starch or starch here and no starch there or whatever. But he had it just right.

I mean he had a formula. He took his shirts in to this cleaning establishment and said, I want you to do these shirts this way. When he came back to pick up the shirts they were not done that way. So he just smiled and he said, hey, would you redo these shirts? You didn't do them like I asked you to do them. They said, yes sir, we'll redo them.

When he came back the next time to get his shirts they messed up again. He said, look, I brought them in the first time I told you how. I brought them in the second time I told you how. Now you're wasting my time. Let me explain it to you. This is what I want. Is that clear?

Can you do this please? You know how we talk. Please. I said, yes sir, we're sorry. Yes sir, yes sir. Later on this same man living in that town, a member of a church that had a visitation program just like ours, went for visitation and he got a card and on the card was a name and the name matched the name of the cleaners. He called the person over who was distributing the card and said, I want to ask you a question. Are these the people that operate a certain cleaning establishment? They said, yes. Well, he said, do you know them? He said, yes, I know who they are.

He said, well, may I ask you another question? Do they know me? They said, well, yes, they do know you. Have you ever talked to them about me? He said, yes, I have. I said, oh no.

You want me to go see them? He said, that's right. Well, he said, I want to ask you the big question. What do they think about me?

You know what the answer was? He said, they think the most important thing on earth to you is the way your shirts are done. Do you know what I want people to think of when they think of me? They're the most important thing in life to me is Jesus Christ.

That's what I want people to think. That the most important thing on earth to that man is Jesus Christ. That's a principle to guide my life. Now again, I want to say that if you're not a Christian, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ or if you are an immature Christian, you're going to be looking for little rules because you want to find loopholes in laws.

But these are six practical principles. You take these principles and live by these principles and I believe when you meet the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll hear Him say to you, well done, good and faithful servant. No one can behave himself into the kingdom of God. I'm not telling you to live this way so you can go to heaven. You go to heaven by repenting of your sin and receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. Christ carried your sins to the cross and He died there for you and He paid your sin debt. And your sin has been paid for with His precious blood. And the Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And if you would pray a prayer like this, oh God, I'm a sinner and I'm lost and I need to be saved. And I can't save myself, but right now like a little child with all of my heart, I trust you Lord Jesus to save me. I promise you, Jesus will save you today if you trust Him. Lord Jesus, seal the word to our heart and Lord, may many today come to Jesus. Draw them Holy Spirit in your Holy name I pray.

Amen. And if you prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, we want to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. There's a response section as well where you can share your testimony or how this message has impacted you. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click on the tab that says Discover Jesus.

Welcome to God's forever family. We can't wait to hear from you. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, call 1-877-LOVEGOD and order six positive principles for proper practice. This message is also part of the insightful Back to the Basics series. For that complete collection, all 18 powerful messages, call 877-LOVEGOD or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio. Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Many of the messages in this series are also featured in our new resource, the What Every Christian Ought to Know Study.

Utilize that tool at lwf.org slash radio. Well, thanks for studying in God's Word with us today. When you do that, when you open the Bible, are you looking for rules to follow or principles to live by?

Consider the principles presented today. Ask yourself the questions we asked in the program and be sure to join us next time for more timeless truth right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener wrote a note of encouragement and said this, Adrian Rogers was truly an awesome man of God. I thank God for his wonderful words and that we can still learn and grow from them even today. We are passionate about equipping listeners with the tools to grow in their faith and honor God in their homes. That's why this month to say thank you for your support, we want to send you our It Takes a Family booklet collection. This bundle features popular booklets such as God's Plan for the Man and It Takes a Family as well as two brand new booklets, Maximum Mom and Honoring Father and Mother. Request a bundle when you call with a gift right now at 1-877-LOVEGOD or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183 or give online at LWF.org slash radio. And again, thanks for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.