Six Positive Principles for Proper Practice | Part 1

Is the Bible a book of rules or a book of principles? Listen to the Bible as a book of principles. If you have your Bible, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. We'll begin in verse 12 as we learn six positive principles to live by and questions to ask ourselves for a proper daily practice.

Again, here's Adrian Rogers. Now I want to say this. Listen carefully. There are some great eternal standards of right and wrong that have been set by Almighty God, settled by the Word of God, no stutter, no stammer, no equivocation, no apology. God simply said this is right and this is wrong. Men and women come and go, but the Ten Commandments are here to stay and men and women are still being broken trying to break them. God has given His Word, but having said that, there are a lot of issues that are not settled by the Ten Commandments per se. And why is that?

I'll tell you why. The Bible is not primarily a rule book. The Bible is primarily a guidebook. The Bible is not so much a book of minute laws as the Bible is a book of great principles. And I'm glad that it is a book of great principles. I'll tell you three reasons before we ever get into the message. If the Bible were a book of minute rules and laws, you'd need a freight train to carry it around on. I mean, there would be so many issues and so many subjects that you'd have to look up. That you could not carry your Bible as you carry it now under your arm.

I'll tell you something else, another reason I'm glad. If the Bible were a book of minute laws and rules, what would relate to one age would not relate to another age. Can you imagine somebody in Corinth picking up the Word of God and reading, Thou shalt not go to an R-rated movie. What would that mean to them? Or, Thou shalt not drive recklessly in a school zone. What would that mean?

It would mean anything to them at all. But you see, principles can apply to the first century and principles can apply to the 20th century. I'll tell you another reason that I am glad that the Bible is not a book merely of rules but principles. You can find loopholes in laws, but you can't find loopholes in principles. There's a difference.

And everybody's always looking for a loophole, aren't they? Back in 1908, there was a football game between Carlisle and Harvard. Paul Harvey told this interesting event in his very popular series, The Rest of the Story. Now, these were football rivals. And you know how important football is to this generation, just as important back in that generation. Now, the coach at Harvard was what we call a purist. That is, he went by the rules. He lived by the fundamentals of the game. But the coach at Carlisle, he was always looking for ways to bend the rules and get around the rules. And his claim to fame was what we call today razzle dazzle.

In that day, they called it whiff-waff. And that's Coach Warner. And Coach Warner had just played a Syracuse. And he stayed up all night reading the rule book, trying to figure out how he could read the rule book, play by the rules, and still by whiff-waff win the game. And he beat Syracuse.

You know what he did? Before the game, he had all of the jerseys of his team altered. And on every jersey, he had sewed a football puffed out like this, made of cloth. Everybody had a football right there. The men got down on the line and the ball was hiked. And every man stood up and every man had a football.

Nobody knew who to tackle. And Carlisle beat Syracuse. And they complained, he said, there's nothing in the rule book against him. So, these two coaches, the coach at Harvard and the coach at Carlisle met. Now, they were mortal enemies on the football field, but they respected one another and they met the night before. And the coach at Harvard said to the coach at Carlisle, you're not going to use those jerseys again, are you?

Well, he said, yes. There's nothing in the rule book against him. The coach at Harvard said, all right. So, when they met on the field of combat, they were meeting at Harvard, the home team, and the home team always gets to supply and choose the balls. The coach at Harvard came out. All of his team was dressed in the same crimson red jerseys that they always wore.

Out came Carlisle. There were the footballs sewed on their jerseys. But when they reached in the bag and pulled out the footballs that Harvard had prepared, every football was crimson red.

Harvard won the game. I just tell you that story because to me it's an interesting story of how you can manipulate rules. But there's a principle in football. And what is the principle in football? Play fair.

Play fair. Now, if they'd used the principle, they would not have equivocated about these little rules that they have. Now, I want to say that to say this about living right. If you're one of these people who just simply try to live by the rules but not by the principles, you're always going to try to figure out a way to bend the rules to do what you want to do. Now, Paul was writing to some very immature people, the Corinthians. He said, I had to treat you like little children, like immature babies, because they were wanting to live by rules and not by principles.

And now the apostle Paul is trying to give them some principles. Rules are for kids. When you go away from your house, if you have little children, you say and you think they're old enough, you know, to stay at home, but you're not quite certain what do you do? You give them a lot of rules. Don't let anyone in the house.

Don't play with matches. Don't do this and don't do that. You don't tell that to your grown children, hopefully, because they're old enough to live by certain principles. Principles are for those who are mature.

Rules are simply for children and for kids. Now, let me give you six positive principles for proper practice. They're all going to come right out of this book of 1 Corinthians.

Are you ready for them? Principle number one. It is the principle that we want to call from the Word of God, the principle of expediency.

Look, if you will, in chapter 6 and verse 12. Paul says, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. Now, how do you make up your mind whether or not a thing is right or wrong for you? Shall I do this thing or shall I not do this thing? Can I practice this or shall I not practice this?

Well, ask yourself this question. Not is it lawful, but is it expedient? You say, well, I don't know what expedient means. Well, when you think of expedient, what other word do you think of? You think of expedition. An expedition is a journey.

You're going somewhere if you're on an expedition. And what the word expedient means is something that brings you to your goal, something that brings you to your destination. Every Christian ought to have some God-given goals. Every one of us ought to have a holy ambition in our lives. I have goals for my life.

I believe they have been given by God, hammered out on the anvil of prayer, and these are goals for my life. Now, I can tell whether a thing is right or wrong for me, number one, by this. Does it bring me to my appointed goal, or does it hinder me? Is this activity an anchor that keeps me out of God's harbor, or is it something that propels me toward my God-given goal?

Now, number one, if you don't have any God-given goals, then expediency makes no difference for you. That eminent theologian and philosopher Yogi Berra said, you have to be careful if you don't know where you're going because you might not get there. You need to know where you're going, what God has laid His hand upon you. This was the great goal of the apostle Paul.

He said that I might lay hold of that for which God has laid hold of me. Do you have a philosophy for your life? Do you have some God-given ambitions and goals?

Do you? Then for you, a lot of things will be settled. You won't have to say this is right or this is wrong because of some rule. You say this is right or this is wrong for me because it may or may not bring me on my way.

It is not expedient for me. There are some things I don't do just simply because they don't help me to reach my God-given goal. So what's the first principle?

Principle of expediency. Here's the second principle, the principle of enslavement. Look, if you will, in chapter 6, verse 12. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Now to be brought under the power means to be enslaved by anything. You see, Jesus Christ came to set you free. And the Bible says if the Son, that is the Son of God, shall make you free, you will be free indeed. But anything other than Jesus Christ that enslaves you is wrong for you. You say, well, I'm not a Christian, but I'm not enslaved.

Oh, yes, you are. He that serves sin, the Bible says, is the servant of sin. The unsaved man is free to do what he wants, but he's not free to do as he ought. And he is free to choose, but he's not free to choose the consequences of his choice.

But Jesus, truly, by that perfect enslavement to his sovereignty, sets us free in every other area. Now, are you a free person, or is there something that has enslaved you? Are you enslaved by pornography? Lust? Nicotine? Caffeine? Rock music? Television?

Sports? Appetite? Far more people are killed in America by overeating than they are by poison. Are you a slave? Many people are slaves to a little cigarette about that big.

Great big 6 foot 2, 205 pound man, I just can't quit. That's got him. I was reading about a person who had Burger's disease, that sometimes you have to amputate a limb. This individual had gone to see the doctor at Oschner Clinic, and the doctor said to this individual, if you don't quit smoking, we're going to have to cut off one of your legs. You know what he said?

Above the knee or below the knee. That's pathetic. But how easy it is to be enslaved by anything. You say, well, I can quit anytime I want to. The only problem is, you just don't want to, do you? You're enslaved, and you're kidding yourself. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.

That is, they don't bring me to my goal. All things may be lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. And no man is fully free who drags his chain with him. I heard of a man who was in the midst of a battle, a very furious battle, and he called out this commander and he said, I've taken a prisoner. The commander said, that's wonderful, bring him with you. He said, well, he won't come. He said, then you better leave him and come yourself. He said, he won't let me go.

You wonder, who has taken who? In Jesus, in Jesus, we are to be set free. And I have to watch, am I getting enslaved by anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ? That's a principle. Now here's the third principle, and that is the principle of example. Now this time, fast forward to 1 Corinthians chapter 8, and look with me in verse 8 through 13. Here's a very interesting passage of Scripture. But meat, M-E-A-T, commendeth us not to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak.

The key word is stumbling block. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. But when ye sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. Pastor Rogers, I don't understand that Scripture.

What does it mean? Well, if I tell you the historical background, you would understand. What happened, Paul is living in a pagan society there at Corinth. There were many people who were practicing idol worship. And they would practice idol worship with their bloody sacrifices. They would take the very best of the sheep and the oxen and the goats and they would sacrifice them to their god. And they would sacrifice those bloody sacrifices to these idol gods. There was the meat that had been sacrificed to the idol. Well, they would take that meat and they would bring it to the pagan meat market and put it there in the meat market. And there in the meat market this meat would be sold. Number one, it was the best.

Number two, it was the lowest price. And many Christians were saying, well, it's good stewardship to go down there and buy that meat. Because if you go down there and buy that meat at the pagan meat market, it's the very best meat. It's good and nutritious for you.

It's not contaminated in any way. And we're being good stewards. We're saving our money. We're buying prime rib for 50 cents a pound.

And that's wonderful. Other people were saying, don't tell me that you in order to save money or in order to get a better cut of beef that you would eat something that has been used in devil worship? That you would eat meat that's offered to idols?

God forbid that you should do such a thing. You can see how an argument could go, couldn't you? Paul said, well, if you eat meat, you're not any better, any worse. The food's not going to change in the meat.

I mean, putting something in here, it's not going to change what's here or here. He said, you need a better or worse if you eat that meat. Nothing wrong with the meat. I want to ask you a question. Let's just take a survey here today.

You up to it? Okay. How many of you think it would be better to buy your meat there, save money, get better food, have some extra money to give to the love offering this year?

How many of you think that would be better? Let me see your hands. There's a lot of you. Good.

How many of you say, well, now look, even though it's better food and all that, and even though we're being good stewards, I don't want to have anything to do with any kind of meat that's been offered to idols? Let me see your hand. All right. Now, how many of you take the Fifth Amendment? Let me see. You're not going to vote. All right. Now, you can understand, therefore, we're just about split three ways here, the eaters, the non-eaters, and the non-voters.

All right. Now, that's the way it was at Corinth. And actually, they didn't laugh about it there because they were grim about it.

They were deadly serious. Now, the apostle Paul is approaching this, and he's not going to give them a rule. He's going to give them a principle. Do you know what the principle is?

The principle is the principle of example. In verse 9, he says, don't do anything that will be a stumbling block to your brother. Eating meat, not going to make you any better, not going to make you any worse.

But if it causes somebody else to stumble, don't do it. And so, all those of you who voted for eating the meat, you say, well, Pastor Rogers, that just kind of offends my intellect. Well, go back to chapter 8 and verse 1. Now, as touching things offered unto idols, we all have knowledge. But now, watch this. Knowledge puffeth up. Charity edifies.

It builds up. Now, 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's some things that I don't do, not because I think in the doing of them I would be harmed. There's 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 skunk 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. 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. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important message. But maybe today you have questions about who Jesus is, about what he means to you, how to begin a relationship with God through Christ. Please go to our Discover Jesus page at LWF.org slash radio.

You'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Again, click Discover Jesus at LWF.org slash radio. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, request one by the title Six Positive Principles for Proper Practice. Call us to order at 1-877-LOVE-GOD. This message is also part of the insightful Back to the Basics series for that complete collection, all 18 powerful messages. Call that number 1-877-LOVE-GOD or order online at LWF.org slash radio. Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You know, 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 so much for joining us in today's study. Remember, as Adrian Rogers said, knowledge puffs you up, but love builds up. We are here to operate by love.

Don't let your head run away with your heart today. And be sure to tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of this message right here on Love Worth Finding. A seminary student wrote to us not long ago and said, Pastor Rogers truly was one of the greatest pastors of our time. Because of this great man of God, I have a passion for theology.

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