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Your Holy Spirit, as he comes forward to preach the message and lay it on his heart, the Lord, we just ask you to give us all your stay here and hearts to receive the message. The Lord would love you, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. All right, 1 Corinthians chapter 6. So Paul starts off the chapter by rebuking the Corinthians for not understanding how civil law applies to the believer. You got people just, you know, trying to sue each other and take each other to court. And in the midst of this, in verse 12, if you look down at verse 12, he gives them this statement here, this verse here, which was what I'm going to be preaching about this evening. So 1 Corinthians 6, 12 says, 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 many. Keep your place there because we're going to come back to it a couple of times and go to Galatians chapter 2. And then when you get there, keep your place in Galatians because we'll come back to it quite a few times throughout the evening. But what I'm preaching about this evening is the subject of Christian liberty. Christian liberties. So the title of the sermon is going to be called Christian liberty and the television. I could have called it Christian liberty and I don't know, the coronavirus or, you know, the lockdown or anything, right? Basically we're just going to take a look at this doctrine because it's a very misunderstood doctrine amongst God's people today, amongst those who claim to be God's people today. And so like any other doctrine, we want to make sure that we have a good, clear understanding of what the Bible says about Christian liberty. And I'll just tell you right now that there are pretty much, there's two extremes to this doctrine kind of like, you know, everything else, right? So on one hand, you've got this extreme which says, okay, you have to follow the law and the commandments and believe on Jesus Christ and that gives you liberty. And then on the other side, you have people saying, well, we're free in Christ. We can do anything that we want to without, you know, regards to, there's no repercussions. The law has basically been tossed out the window. We don't have to be like the fundamentalists. All we basically need is a few select New Testament verses, be good people, and there's your Christian liberty, okay? That's basically your pendulum there. It's your left and right false paradigm with this doctrine, if you will. But Paul starts off verse 12 and he says, all things are lawful unto me. Some people would read that and say, see, I don't have to listen to you. I don't have to do this. I don't have to do that. You know, people will say, I don't have to wear a tie when I come to church and you don't have to wear a tie to come to this church, okay? I agree with you. But people see, you know, that, you know, a lot of people do wear ties or, you know, dress nice when they come to a fundamental church and they think that that's just something that we're brow beating people over the head with, and that's not it. But they'll take that, well, you're legalistic. You know, I wear shorts and a t-shirt to church, and I think God's just happy with that. Look, that's not what this sermon's about, but that's what, that's the way people take this verse. You know, all things are lawful unto me. So what, you could just go to church naked then? They say, I mean, is that what you're trying to say? You know? So what does he mean though? What is he talking about there? Because if you, look, when I was studying this, I went online and I looked to try to see what the liberals say because I kind of forgot. And one thing that kept coming up over and over again was the NIV correctly translates this verse. I'm not going to get the book out tonight, but it basically, they add words to it like they do. So it reads something like, all things are lawful unto me, and then they say, but, not convenient or something like that, and they add a few other words to it. And they'll say, well, this is more of a correct translation, right? Because this makes it so that we can, you know what? I'm just going to read it. I can't help it. Sorry. Sorry about that. I'm just going to have to bust the book out here and you're going to have to listen to it. If I can find 1 Corinthians chapter, oh yeah, chapter six here. All right. Look down at the King James Bible and look at the King James Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter six. Well, the first question I have is, is it even in here in this one here in this version? Okay. Here's what they say. You look at the King James. Here's what the NIV says. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God or I'm sorry, wrong verse says everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Okay. They completely changed that verse. All things are permissible for me. Well, there's a big difference between things that are permissible for you and things that are lawful that really changes the entire meaning when they say that. But you know, pastor after pastor, scholar after scholar says, oh, well that's a better rendering of the verse. If you go back to the original language, it's just like they always do. Um, and I'll just tell you that's false. You know, one of the reasons why they make those verses the way that they do is so that you as a person could just open the Bible up, pluck one verse out and build an entire doctrine off of it. That's why they do that. See the King James is going to make you read the 11 verses before verse 12 and the verses after it and the chapter before it and the chapter after it in order to get the right meaning. Okay. Now just think about this. All things are lawful unto me. Do you think Paul's really saying I can just go and kill a bunch of random people and I'm all good? God won't even be disappointed with it. No. Do you think he's saying that I could just go down to the freeway right now and just start hucking rocks at cars and God's just going to bless me immensely for that. Is that what he means? No, that's ridiculous. Paul wasn't stupid. Okay. Do we need a verse like in the NIV to explain that to us? No. You need to study the Bible. Okay. This is why just, just one of the thousand reasons why I hate the modern versions with a passion. Now what we're going to do here is we're going to look at Galatians chapter two. We're just gonna look at two verses and you're going to kind of see one of the extremes here. You're going to see a group of people that try to creep into the churches in Galatia and they tried to basically rob people of their Liberty. Look at verse number three, Galatians two, three, it says this, but neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be circumcised. Remember he was the lucky one. Remember who the unlucky one was? It was Timothy. Okay. Remember that from last year? Look at verse four, it says, and that because of false brethren, unawares brought in who came in privily to spy out our Liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. And that verse right there really does a great job of explaining one of the extremes that people will go to in the doctrine of Christian Liberty. They'll say, see, they'll creep into churches and just pull the old Satan, the yea hath God said. Right? And that's exactly what they did. When did God say that you don't have to be circumcised to be saved? Well, turns out you actually, you do have to be, and that's what these people were doing. They came in to spy out their Liberty, to learn the doctrine, and then to try to subvert the church. And he did a very good job at it because when you read Galatians, what's the one thing that Paul says? You know, did you guys even believe this stuff? The first time I came, he's basically like, hey, did you believe in vain? I mean, I'm surprised he tells them that you're so soon removed, you know, from the gospel. Now go over to Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter eight. And so you got this group of people that's trying to add works to salvation. No surprise to us here, right? That's one form of extremism when it comes to this verse here. Now I just want to show you real quickly before we move on what this actually means. Okay. Look at verse 18, Romans eight, 18, Paul says this for, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which shall be revealed in us for the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the menace manifestation of the sons of God for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who have subjected the same in hope in verse 21, he tells you why he says, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. So verse 21 there, what does that saying that says that the unsaved person is in bondage to sin. They have no liberty. You say, well, I'm American, I'm, I'm free born. Well, that's great while you're locked down and stuff by the way, but, um, that's another issue here. Uh, you're in bondage, you're snared. You have no freedom. You're not free in Christ. If you're not saved. I don't care what you say. Okay. And so the doctrine of Christian liberty is very simple and it's this, the unsafe person's in bondage and the saved person is free, free from the law. You're free from the bondage of sin. You're free from the eternal consequence of hell, which is where sin drags a person down. So that's what he's talking about in first Corinthians chapter six says, all things are lawful unto me. So yes, you could be a fornicator and still be saved and not lose your salvation. You can go steal a car and rob a bank. Now does that mean you're not going to get chastisement? No, you will get chastisement, but you're free from that bondage. It can no longer hold you. You're forgiven for all your sins, past, present and future. It's not that hard to understand, which guess what that means? People that aren't saved to try to teach this stuff come up with all sorts of weird sayings and weird doctrine and so at its, at its basic roots, that is what the doctrine is. Now go over to Galatians chapter five and Galatians chapter five. Here's some further proof. Look at verse number one. Here's what Paul tells them. Galatians five one says, stand fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. So what were these people that went to spy out their Liberty doing? I've already said it. They crept in and said, no, you're free as long as you maintain the law and believe in Christ. Right? And Paul's like, hey, I've already gone down this road with you. I already explained to you that's not true. You don't have to do that, but yet they listened to these bozos that crept into church and said, well, you know, these guys are smarter than we are. I guess we just better go along with it. Paul's not here anymore. You know, we should, and what are they left with? Bondage. So when a person, you know, and there are people that get saved, they get out of church, they don't read the Bible, and then one day they just waltz into some whatever type church and they get taught that they have to work. It's true. Right? And, and I'm not saying they definitely don't lose their salvation, but they're bringing themselves back into bondage when you do that. Now I've met people like this before and I've straightened them out and they're like, oh yeah, of course. You know, they always seem to get it right because they're saved and they actually do have the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost is like, no, no, no, no. He's right. He's right. Your church is wrong. And then you straighten them out. And they're like, okay, well I'm glad you came by. Thanks a lot. I'm still going to keep going to my journey church, right? But basically that's what he's talking about here in verse one. He's not like, okay, you lost your, your, your Liberty, your, you lost your salvation. That's not what he's saying at all. He's saying, why would you want to go back under that yoke of bondage that you were so excited to be freed from in the first place? Verse two, behold, I Paul say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing for I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. And you say, well, I got circumcised and I'm saved, does that mean I got to do the whole law? No, you missed the boat. If that's what you're thinking, the person who's trusting in the works of the law, right? That's what he's talking about are going to have to do the whole law. But if you've sinned at any point, then you're guilty of all, right? That's what the Bible talks about. Now look, a verse three, for I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever you are justified by the law, you're fallen from grace. You ever heard the term all my kids have fallen from my grace? Doesn't mean that you necessarily kicked him out of your family, though they're not your children anymore, right? So when you decide to go, a person decides to go down this road and get tangled up in this bondage, would you say that that person's in God's good graces? No. So that's one way that you could look at that verse, but let's keep reading here. He says in verse five, for we through the spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, not by faith in works, not by faith in anything else, but by faith. Verse six, for in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. It was the love of Christ that made it possible for us to be saved. But God commanded us to love toward us, and then while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the Bible says. So Christian liberty is exactly what it sounds like. You're free from the bondage of the law. You're free from the bondage of sin, right? What does the law do? It exposes sin. It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are all sinners. That's what it does, okay? Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter eight, 1 Corinthians chapter eight, and then like with any doctrine, you're gonna have people that take it far left and far right, and you know, where's the truth often? Right down the middle, right? The truth, and by the way, the truth, I mean, it's the best deal out there. Sometimes I just want to tell people like, look, you're standing here telling me how good you are and how hard it is for you to follow these commandments and what a burden it is to you, and I'm telling you it's free gift. The Bible says that I showed it, you acknowledged it, and you still reject it. It's like, this is the best deal out there. Why wouldn't you want it? And then I'm reminded, oh, they want that pride that comes with it. Look what I did, you know, that's the problem. So you turn to 1 Corinthians eight, I'm gonna read for you Luke 4 18, which says this. This is what Jesus said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised. Again, that goes back to what I was talking about last Wednesday, where the Bible talks about or Peter mentions that Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison. Do you get it now? If you're unsaved, you're in prison. That was written in Isaiah, Jesus is quoting that and basically telling you, hey, I came to set at liberty those that are in bondage. The unsaved man is in bondage. There's no freedom. I don't care. Oh, I'm a Fox News watching Second Amendment, man. I got all the guns in the world. That's great. Good for you, but what's that going to profit you if you never get saved? Well, I'm on Christ's side. What does that even mean? I had somebody tell me that not too long ago, I'm on Christ's side and I'm free. Okay, great. What does that mean? It means you're really in bondage because you can't even tell me how to get to heaven. You have no concept and no clue. And see, that's the problem today is people don't teach these doctrines anymore. Why? Because it's not profitable. That's why. Because you know what? You know what the doctrine of Christian liberties means? It means, hey, yeah, we're free from the bondage of sin, but guess what? We're still accountable to God even though we're saved. God does care how you act. God does care how I act. God does care how we act in his body. God cares whether or not we're a good ambassador or a bad ambassador. And when we decide to take the high road and just ignore what he said and do our own thing, you know what that does? It gets him upset. And I think that people in the back of their minds, I think they know that. And it bothers them. So they'd rather just believe this far right, oh, Christ has done away with the law. We don't need any of that. We don't need to be going to Leviticus and quoting Leviticus 20, 13, because that just offends people. And that just puts people into bondage. Well, you know what? So be it. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, right? It's for reproof. It's for correction. It's for us to learn from all of the Bible, from Genesis all the way to revelation. You can open up the book of Amos and start preaching doctrine to people right now. And God would be pleased with that. All right, so let's take a look at this here. First Corinthians chapter eight, look at verse number one. So Paul's going to explain this concept here a little bit in a real world sense. So what you're going to see here in first Corinthians chapter eight is you're going to see how our actions, right? How our actions affect the unsaved and the saved. So you know what? Because like I said, we do have Christian liberty, okay? We're free from the ordinances. We're free from the bondage of sin. You know, there's things that they had to do in the Old Testament that we don't have to do today. And you know what? There's also things that we're free to do today that we shouldn't do in front of weak people. And that's exactly what you're going to see here. Look at verse number one. He says this, now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. Again, real quick recap on that. Knowledge is great. He's not bashing knowledge, right? We need knowledge, but we need to turn it into wisdom. A great way to do that is by being charitable. You ever heard of a charity? Yeah, love and action, right? If I go give something to a charity, they actually take that gift and they use it to the community, supposedly. That's what they're supposed to do, okay? I'm not endorsing all the charities out there. I'm just saying that they take your love gift and they turn it into action. That's kind of an easy way to remember that. You know, because the modern versions will say, well, it's just love. Just everything's just straight love. Well, it's easy to pay lip service to love, but what about charity? What about actually applying what you say and doing something about it? You say you love the brethren. Do you help the brethren out? Do you pray for them? Do you try to teach them? Do you try to edify them? You say you love the community. You say you love people. Do you go out and try to get them out of the bondage of sin? How about that? You see, that's the problem with these new evangelical bozos that are out there. Oh, I just love everybody. I just love all people, but you're mad at me for knocking on your door telling you about the free gift that could save your backside from the lake of fire? What sense does that make? It makes zero sense. Verse two, and if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. All this stuff that I'm telling you, all the stuff that I preach, you know what? I don't know it like I ought to know. That's the way I read that, humility. Verse three, but if any man love God, the same is known of him. This is something that we need to remember. When a person, you know, I've met a lot of people in my life, oh, I love God, oh, I love Jesus, man. You know, and they've got a closet full of booze. You've got an NIV on the table, been to church twice in a year, but you love Jesus, huh, because you've got that little fish thing on the back of your car. You've got a t-shirt that says it's a relationship, not a religion, and that somehow equals love. That's a joke, my friend. That is not what the Bible is teaching here. If you love God, other people are going to know about that. You know what? When they see you knock on somebody's door and it's a weekend, you know, I'm willing to bet that that person knows that you love God, because there's a lot of other things you could probably be doing with your time instead of knocking on a bunch of jerk stores, right? But because we really love people, we go out and we do this, and we show people this. He says in verse four, as concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, in that there is none other God but one. So he's like, look, I know that an idol is a joke, right? There's no Jobu statue that's going to come up here and hurt us, okay? I remember when I was a kid, this other kid, he's like, I made a voodoo doll of you, and I'm going to start poking him with needles at night, and it's going to hurt you and do all this stuff to you. And I was like, get out of here, man, this stuff's fake. You know, we would argue about that. And I figured that's kind of where that would stay. Well, I've met somebody in real life that, I can't remember where this was, this is in Vancouver or Sacramento, but they were like, we're going to make, you know, we actually practice voodoo, and we're going to make dolls of you, and we're going to inflict pain and punishment on you. And I'm still waiting in 2020. I'm still waiting April 15th, 2020 for that pain. Now, I've had some pains, but it's all been brought on from work or from myself, not from some stupid voodoo doll, okay? You know, so there are people out there that try to boast like these idols or something, and they're weak. They're pathetic. So Paul's just saying, hey, we know that this stuff is a joke. We understand that. Verse five, he says, for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there be gods many and lords many, but to us there is but one God. Now, it's important right there. He says, but to us, right, to us who are saved, but to us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things, we by him. Now, look at verse seven. How be it? God is not in every man that knowledge. So not every man understands what he just said in verse six or verse five or verse four. Does that make sense? Not everybody understands, but to us there is just one God, right, the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Not everybody has that knowledge, he says. He says, for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled. So there are people out there that eat stuff sacrificed to idols, and he's saying, hey, their conscience is defiled from doing that. But it's not the power of the idol that did that. It's the fact that it's a dumb, stupid, satanic joke. The things that the Gentiles sacrifice to, they sacrifice those things to devils. So when you see these people in the media worshiping Moloch, you know, in the Redwood Groves, I don't know if that's in the media anymore. I think that was just a video, right? But they don't deny it, you know. But go to any country where they have idolatry, right? I've been to Japan, and I've walked by their shrines. I went to visit some of their Shinto temples, and they've got thousands and thousands and thousands of idols all over the place. I remember, you know, most of them you have to walk up these steep, like, staircases, right? You know what verses come to mind? All the Old Testament verses about the high places. But as you're walking up a lot of these stairs, it's just like these little Buddha dolls, just thousands of them, man. I mean, it would take you like 15 minutes to get up to the top of some of these places, and they're just perfectly lined idols all the way up. You know, and there's this guy walking around with incense, just, you know, mumbling and bowing and, like, doing this incense stuff, and they're taking pictures, and, you know, just like, you know, but they're cracked, right? The arms are falling off of some of them, and, you know, they have to come through periodically and adjust them. It's like, look, those stupid things, they can't even save you. They can't even stand up for, like, I don't know, five, six years without having some kind of adverse effect, without the weather destroying them, you know? So he says, their conscience being weak is defiled, verse 8, but meat commendeth us not to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. So he's saying, look, it doesn't have an effect. So for example, let's say you go eat dinner somewhere. You finish up your meal, and somebody's like, hey, I sacrificed that to an idol before I gave it to you. First of all, I would be upset, you know, and walk out, and for that man's conscience and for the brethren's conscience, it'd be like, you know, I'd definitely take a stand against that, but it's not going to hurt you, okay? It's not like, oh, I need to go get my stomach pumped, okay? Just whatever, just walk out, it's, okay, you got me this time, it's a joke. Look at verse 9, he says this, but take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. And now you're going to see he's talking about the unsaved, but he's also going to start talking about the saved as well, okay? Look at verse 10, for if any man see thee which has knowledge sit at me 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? So he's saying, hey, if I see Brother James, Brother Moses, and Brother David eating, you know, at some Shinto temple restaurant, you know, while there's people bowing down from their food and there's statues on your table, you know, people are going to be like, what are you doing? Don't you go to Shield of Faith Baptist Church? What's wrong with you? And the Bible's, you know, Paul's telling these guys, hey, the conscience of him which is weak, so the person who's in idolatry, first of all, right, is going to be emboldened. That means they're going to have confidence seeing you do it. They're going to have that assurance, they're going to have that courage, be like, well, if he's doing it and he's okay with it, then I'm going to go full force and do it. I'm going to do it all the more. But here's the thing, it's not just idolatry, it's other things in life too that are not expedient, that when we neglect the wisdom and go out and do those things, the weak brother in the world look at that and say, oh, well, there must be nothing wrong with it. Look at verse 11, he says, and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. Look at verse 12, but when ye sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Verse 13, wherefore if me make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. So Paul's saying here, hey, if I've got a weak brother who thinks they just, let's take for example, just eating any kind of meat is bad, it's a stumbling block to him. He's like, I'm not going to go pull up a five-course steak meal right in front of him. I'm going to respect that, and for his weak conscience sake, I'm going to sacrifice my needs and my desires in this time to help that brother out. That is the idea here. That's the goal. We do have liberty. Look, you can eat pork chops, you can eat shrimp, you can eat this, but look, let's say somebody's on a diet. You can invite them over and try to make them stumble on something like that. That's not a good idea to do to your brother, right? We're supposed to help each other out, and I mean, you could preach a whole doctrine off of this here. I mean, all sorts of stuff. There's all sorts of examples I'm sure that we could think about. I'm just going to give you one today. Turn to Psalm 119, Psalm 119, and so Paul's saying, hey, you know, I would sacrifice anything to protect the conscience of a weak brother. And I think that most people in here, I think everybody in here would do the same, right? Somebody who's new comes in here, you know, we want to protect their conscience so that we can nurture them and feed them and edify them and cause them to grow up and be strong in the Lord so that we don't have to worry about that anymore, right? Now let's take this next phrase. So 1 Corinthians chapter 6, our opening verse, it read this, all things are lawful and to be, but not, or but all things are not expedient. So basically what he is saying there is all things do not have profitable consequences, okay? Now, let me ask you this. Is it a sin to own a television set? No, it's not. Is it a sin for me to sit down and watch, I don't know, an episode of Shark Week on television, just a 20-minute, 30-minute episode? Is that a sin? No, it's not, okay? But do we advocate watching television? No, we don't, especially in this church. I preach against that, okay? So how do we make sense of all this? Well, the next phrase that Paul says after he says all things are lawful for me, he says not all things are expedient. One thing that's not expedient, one thing that is not profitable for us is to plop down and watch hours and hours and hours of television programming. It's not good for you. Now, are there bad things on TV? Of course there are. Of course there are. But here's the thing. Some people are so weak-minded when they come into a church like this or they get saved that they might just take you watching that thing as, oh, well, I guess it's okay to watch anything. You see what I'm saying? You just have to be careful with stuff like that, okay? It's not a sin to sit down and watch some fishing show on how to catch fish or how to camp out in the woods. There's all sorts of stuff like that. But it is a sin to watch this wicked stuff on there. And here's the other thing. Some people would be like, well, what about the pure flicks? I've never watched pure flicks, and I don't fully understand it beyond the point that I guess it's supposed to be like clean, wholesome, I don't know, Christian movies, okay? But I would also caution you on this. Be careful on these romance things that are on TV that people like to binge watch because that's not reality, okay? There's romance for a little while, people get married, and then reality hits, okay? And I think there's some danger, and I'm kind of getting ahead of myself, but I think there's some danger in subjecting yourself to some of that programming, okay? It's not expedient for you as a Bible-believing Christian. Now, the reason why I picked television or TV programming is because it affects every single person. And you say, well, I don't have a TV. That's great, but you've got a phone, you've got a tablet, you have a laptop, or you have a PC. You have some avenue to watch media, right? So back in the day, we used to always preach against, well, you know, don't be watching TV, watch TV. And then, you know, people are like, I don't even have a TV, but I got this YouTube, right? And nobody's looking. I'm not giving up my phone history to anybody, right? And so now we've got to be careful what we say, and we need to preach against all of that stuff. Now, is it a sin to watch YouTube videos? No, it depends on what they are, okay? We have to have balance in our lives, and you don't want to abuse our Christian liberty, right? So what I'm saying is, if somebody comes in here, and I know that that's a stumbling block for them to watch rated-R movies and to just get hooked on that, I'm not watching any TV in front of them, and I'm going to be very cautious about even showing them certain videos on my phone. Okay, and I'm not saying this is going on here at all, I haven't seen this here, but I have seen this situation come up in the past in other places, where somebody is just trying to free themselves from the bondage of the television, from watching cable TV, and then you roll up and, hey, remember this clip from back in the day? You know, they might not be strong enough to handle that, and you could be sinning against their conscience, which you're sinning against Christ, because they are in the body of Christ. You see what I'm saying? You've got to be careful. Yeah, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient or profitable, right? And especially in regards to the television. Now after that part of the verse, Paul says this, but I will not be brought under the power of any. So 1 Corinthians 6, verse 12, in its basic form, what that verse is talking about is talking about Christian liberty, right? I could go out and sin right now, do something stupid, and still be saved. I may not be in the best graces of God, obviously, I'm going to get chastised, but I'm not losing my salvation. That's a done deal, right? Now there's a secondary application, okay? All things are lawful, not all things are profitable or expedient, and you know what? Some things that are out there will put you under bondage mentally and spiritually, and the television is one of those things that can do that to you. If you subject yourself to hours and hours and hours of programming, it's going to bring you under its power. It will do it. It's going to bring you under its power. So just remember this as I read this article to you guys, but he says this, but I will not be brought under the power of any. So as believers, we need to make sure that we understand the things and the snares and the traps that are out there in the world that we could fall prey to. And I'm telling you right now that the television, television programming, whether you're watching it on your phone or you're watching it on a big box TV in your house, can bring you under its power if you are not careful. And it can also cause a brother to stumble, somebody who's new in the faith or somebody who's just new and coming to church that's been saved for a long time, but there's still a babe in Christ, right? We've got to be careful with these things. Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to read you this article from the Brain Performance Center regarding television programming. Now when I was studying for this, I remembered, and Kayden and Kylen and Kenley know this, when I was a kid I used to watch Super Mario Brothers, I used to get home, I think it was about the time I was in fourth grade, I'd get home from school, right, and I'd be like all right, Zelda used to be a cartoon also, I'd be like I'm watching Zelda, and then I'm watching Mario Brothers, and then I'm watching He-Man, and then I'm watching Inspector Gadget and all this stuff, man, and it's going to be great. Well I remember this one episode, he's thinking out loud, he's like what's something I can do to turn people's brains into mush? And then he's like oh yeah, the television, and I remember even as a kid thinking I wonder if there's some truth to that, you know, I wonder if there's some truth to that. Well it turns out there really is some truth to that, all right? So just listen, it's kind of a lengthy article, but I want to read it to you because I think it's going to prove my point and be beneficial. Here's what this article says, remember this is from the Brain Performance Center, and there's all sorts of articles that say the same stuff that's in this one, all right? So it starts off like this, is watching TV is something virtually everyone does, but did you know that TV can actually be harmful to you? Television viewing can, for example, increase your risk of premature death, reduce your level of intelligence, completely obliterate your ability to concentrate and increase your risk of developing neurodegenerative brain disorders, all right? It's 2020, they've had years and years and years to study people out by this time. So look, in this article, notice what it hasn't said yet, it hasn't said just watching rated R movies, or just watching soaps can do that, it's watching hours of TV, and they're going to explain why, it says researchers in Australia have concluded that watching television increases risk of death from heart disease, strokes, and even cancer. Every hour spent watching television each day increases the risk of dying from heart disease by almost a fifth, say scientists, studies found that people who sat in front of the box for more than four hours a day were 80% more likely to die for reasons linked to heart and artery disease. Now part of that's because you're just sitting down. You know, a lot of, sorry, a lot of people today, they have desk jobs, or they work from home right now, and then when they're done, they plop down on the couch, they turn the TV on, they watch a two-hour football game, then they watch an hour sitcom or something, and then they watch the news for an hour and get all panicked and repeat the cycle every single day, okay? That's what's going on. And so how much action is your body getting here now? How much is your brain actually thinking through problems, troubleshooting, and doing to stay active? Hardly anything at all. So it goes on to say this, even if someone has a healthy body weight, sitting for long periods of time still has an unhealthy influence on their blood sugar and blood fats, said the study lead researcher. It says, Professor David Dunstan from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Victoria Australia says this, while we know a sedentary lifestyle can be dangerous to our health, few studies have examined the effects of what watching too much TV can do to our brains. Research carried out over 25 years by California's Institute for Research and Education has recently shown the dangers of television for our neurons, even in those who exercise regularly. So apparently even if you hop on the treadmill, you get your one hour workout in but you're still regularly plopping down for four hours watching TV, it can mess you up. It can do physical damage to your brain. It can hurt you. Now you know what I'm thinking about? How often God tells us to meditate and think and pray and ponder on his word, right? If you really love God, you're reading your Bible, you're meditating, you're praying, you're studying these things out, think about how much you're not going to have time for that television. Think about how much physical health that's going to give you even right now. And people say, well, the Bible's never profited anybody physically anywhere, anytime. That's a lie. That is a lie. You exchange your television watching, your program watching for the word and you're going to be better off all around. So he goes on to say this, the participants were divided into two groups according to their television habits, frequent viewers, more than three hours of television per day and moderate viewers, less than three hours per day. Their cognitive function was evaluated using the DSST, digital symbol substitution test, Stroop test and our vault test, which stands for array, auditory, verbal learning test. The results showed that the most frequent viewers over the 25 years, 10.9% were more likely to perform poorly on the cognitive tests. Secondly, the participants with low physical activity, 16.3% performed poorly on the DSST. Thirdly, when compared to moderate viewers engaging in regular physical activity, frequent viewers who exercise little were nearly twice as likely to perform poorly on cognitive tests. Too much television and lack of physical activity represent independent factors linked to a decline in cognitive brain performance. While I was studying this out, I don't remember if it was on this article or another one, but there was an advertisement for Hulu, who's ever heard of Hulu? Because people aren't watching the television as much anymore. So these TV companies have gotten smart and they've created things like Hulu to make sure you can have your Jerry Seinfeld and your Cheers and Golden Girls and all that crap right at your fingertips, man, right on your phone. In this commercial, it was this bozo named Alec Baldwin, the Pentecostal Steven Baldwin's brother. I forgot what movies he played in, it's been a long time. But this guy Alec Baldwin, he's walking through this programming studio and he's basically mocking these stats. Some people say that watching TV lowers your cognitive abilities and turns your brain into mush. He's like, it only softens your brain, it's fine. He's mocking these things and making jokes of it, and then all of a sudden he's got this alien tail that comes out and wraps around his head and he's like, there's nothing to see here. And what he's doing there is he's basically putting the truth out to the public, but making it into a joke. So you hear the stats, you hear the truth, but it's made fun of at the same time. So when the average person is faced with these facts, faced with reality, that programming, that hidden agenda in those ads like that, basically blocks any kind of truth from getting in. And marketers do this stuff all the time to trick people into buying things that they don't need. Okay, so he goes on to say this, television reduces your ability to think critically. When you watch TV, brain activity switches from the left side of your brain, which is responsible for logical thought, and critical analysis to the right side. This is significant because the right side of the brain tends not to analyze incoming information. Instead, it uses an emotional response which results in little or no analyses of the information. In other words, this is like someone telling you something and you believing what they say without doing your own research. So you just, we need to be careful with all programming, you know, being suckered into just hours and hours of watching television. I don't care if it's not sinful or not, apparently it's not good for your brain. But let's flip this thing or let's make this a little more extreme. How effective do you think the gospel is going to be to somebody who spends hours and hours and hours of watching just soap operas and just this American Idol and all this trash man that's out there? Look, there's a reason why the sodomite agenda is as strong as it is. It's because of programming. That's why. So it goes on to say this, your brain is actually more active when you are sleeping than when you're watching television. Now think about that because somebody in here told me this, I can't remember who it was, maybe it was brother David, Moses, Mike, some one of you guys told me this. The television I guess stands for tell you the vision. Is that what it stands for? Yeah. Apparently that's true, right? Your brain doesn't have to really think that much because the programming is telling you the vision, right? Is telling you what the programmer wants you to believe and how they want you to think and how they want you to act and respond to certain situations. So it says your brain is actually more active when you are sleeping than when you're watching television. Since the health of your brain is largely determined by how much you actively use it, watching too much television can have a detrimental effect on the health of your brain. One of the reasons that brain activity is so low when watching TV is because you really don't have to do anything. When you read, for example, you have to mentally create images of what you're reading. This requires significant brain power to do so. Look, there's a reason why the Bible says that studying is a weariness of the flesh, right? It takes discipline and it takes time. It takes consistency to get your body to do what you know it should do, right? I know I need to be reading the word more than watching anything. I don't care if it's sermons, I don't care if it's how to videos, I don't care what it is. I need to make sure that my brain, that I'm reading and thinking more than I'm watching that stuff, okay? Because if not, it could have a negative impact on your health. I'm almost done here. It goes on to say this. It says, so the saying TV rots your brain has more truth to it than you might imagine. Excessive television viewing has also been linked to degenerative brain disorders later in life such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease. And I can tell you for a fact that is true. That is true. I have seen that in my own life. You want more information, hit me up after the service, all right? Now I'll give you the full meal deal on that one. So did I have you guys turn to Psalms 119? Yeah. Okay, look down at verse number 37. Remember, remember what Paul said, not all things are expedient and I will not be brought under the power of any. Can you see how subjecting yourself to programming can bring you under the power of something? Look at verse 37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity and quicken thou me in thy way. Most of what you're going to find on Hulu or your cable, you know, network television programming is vanity. That's what it is. And you know what? There's a lot of temptation. I mean, look, who's gotten recommended videos in your YouTube feed and you're like, why would I want to watch that? All of us have, somebody is out to get you. They're trying to bring you under the power and bondage of the stuff. Now are you going to lose your salvation? No, but are you going to lose your, maybe some rewards or lose some ambition, lose some brain cells, lose some zeal? Yes. Yes. So that is true. I'm not under the bondage of sin as far as hell's concerned, but I can still be under physical bondage and unfortunately reap those side effects if we're not careful, right? That's what he's saying here. Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity and quicken thou me in the way. So if this is something you struggle with, if this is something that you know of, someone else who you love is struggling with, give them this verse. What's the key? How do we get out of it? Ask God for help. That's how you do it. You acknowledge that you have a problem and say, Lord, please turn me away from this vanity. And you know what? He's going to do something to you to cause you to not like that anymore. If that's the sincere prayer of yours, you can be freed from that desire of watching television. Now go back in your Bible to Psalm chapter 101. So you're in Psalm 119, go to 101. Psalm 101. We're going to look at verse three. Psalm 101 verse three says this, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate, I'm sorry, that's a different verse. I hate the work of them to turn aside, it shall not cleave to me. Everybody catch what I just read there? I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. So the believer has no, absolutely no reason to be setting wicked programming before our eyes. And look, I'm thinking of believers right now or, well, they're not believers. They call themselves believers, but they're the self-righteous type, right? They go to church, they have the right lingo, and you know what? They watch the most filthy and vile things you can imagine on Hulu, Netflix, is Netflix even still a thing? I think it is, right? Yeah. All that stuff. What about these verses here? And you know what? When people see that, you know what it does? It emboldens them to do it. It says, well, it must be okay. It must not be that bad then. He's okay. He can still say brother-sister Bible, right? He can still say brother-sister Bible, he watches all this crap. So it must be okay. Or they're going to think you're a hypocrite, you're a loser. You preach all this Christ and stuff and then you're watching this gory pornographic trash on TV? Well, what does David say? I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. We should hate the work of them that turn aside. People that have the goal to turn other people aside from the truth. Disney. And I know that's gotten me in trouble in the last couple months with some people and I don't care because it's true. I've developed that hatred for it. I hate Disney. We should have a party called the, guess what? I figured it out, man. I hate Disney. I hate Hollywood with a passion. Because those people, those programmers desire to turn you, my friend, and your potential converts aside from the truth. Keep that in mind. That Jew that makes that program, that little sweet little frozen cartoon, he wants to turn your brain aside from God. He wants to kill you. He wants to kill your children. But I'm a mean monster for preaching against them, I guess, huh? I think we can see who it's clung to because that's what it says. It shall not cleave to me. So we can see the solution for that stuff not cleaving to you or sticking to you is to develop a hatred for it. If you don't learn to develop a hatred for the garbage that is on TV for this programming, you will have it cling to you, my friend. You will be brought under its power. That is what the Bible is teaching us here. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 4. That article that I just read to you, I mean, there's tons of other research out there. What does it say? That it will bring you under power. It can ruin you physically. It can ruin you mentally, and it will if you subject yourself to it. So we can see that that sin, that that programming is designed to stick to you, and it's that cleaving unto you that the basic, I don't know, it festers, it multiplies, it mutates. You think the coronavirus is a problem. No, television programming is a problem. We need to shut the country down until we can get all this negative programming out of here. How about that? That would be far more profitable, far more profitable. So I had you turn to 1 Timothy chapter 4, but I'm going to read for you Leviticus 19 31, which says this, Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards to be defiled for them, for I am the Lord your God. So you know what? People that say I'm a bad guy because I said you shouldn't watch Frozen, or you shouldn't watch these horror shows. Let's just make believe, man. Lighten up. I'm free in Christ. Yeah, you are free in Christ, but you're going to be brought under that power if you don't. Look, God told us not to even set stuff like that down. This is Harry Potter junk, right? You know how I can tell these days whether or not I'm in a Christian's home is if they have Harry Potter books on the shelf, and Harry Potter movies, and booze. One of my last jobs today, I went in the kitchen. I saw the coffee pot. I looked over. I saw a big old cardboard box of wine, and I was like, okay, I know these people go to church. I'm serious, right? And I'm working, and I'm looking around, and I find it. I find the little message verse on the wall, and the little church calendar of events, and the live stream services. Man, it's true. These people have been brought under the power of programming. All because they've been mistaught, and they've misunderstood the real meaning of Christian liberty. We are not free to just do whatever the heck we want to do. It has consequences on the community. It has consequences on the brethren. One more verse. Ephesians 5-11 says this, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. So why am I going to sit down and have fellowship with this negative programming? No, I'm going to stand up here and reprove those things and expose that to you so that you don't make the mistake and be brought under that power. That is true liberty when you're not under the power of the snares and the traps that are out there even for believers. First Timothy 4, look at verse 7. It says this, but refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. So Paul's telling Timothy, hey, you know what, there's a danger in subjecting yourself to old wives' fables. And you know what, that's what soap operas are. You know what, that's what a lot of these romance and pureflicks things are. They're old wives' fables. Let me read you the definition of a wives' fable or a wives' tale. It says this, an old wives' tale is a supposed truth which is actually spurious or a superstition. It can be said sometimes to be a type of urban legend said to be passed down by older women to younger generations. Such tales are considered superstition, folklore, or unverified claims with exaggerated and or inaccurate details. That's what a lot of this fiction programming is. That's what that is. And what did Paul tell Timothy? Hey, refuse old wives' fables. What profit will you gain by sitting down and watching these things on pureflicks? Now if you watch one and it's not sinful, look, I don't care, I'm not mad, whatever. The problem, obviously, is when you're doing it for hours on end or you're doing it in front of somebody who maybe has a weak conscience, that's where it's dangerous. But apparently, I mean, it has power and it can bring you under its bondage, under its control. Show me the person that subjects themselves to that regularly for hours and hours on end that's a zealous, sold-out soul. Show me. Right now, I'll give you 10 minutes. Go around the room and try to audit it. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just teasing you. I'll give you until next week. Bring me somebody. Now, are there people that are doing that and are trying to get better? Yes, of course, okay? And there's always exceptions, so don't get me wrong. But by and large, it's not going to happen. There's a reason why Paul warned Timothy and said, hey, you need to refuse this crap. It's not profitable. He says, exercise thyself rather unto godliness. And you know what? That's going to be profitable all the way around, obviously spiritually, but also physically. Now, when I was reading this verse, one thing that definitely comes to my mind is soap operas. Because you know, I go to these people's houses and it's Fox News and then Days of Our Lives and they're like going back and forth sometimes. Lately, it's just been the news, but they're starting to get back into the soaps because the drama's starting to get old, right? The drama's wearing off, you know, the anger's wearing off, the fear's starting to wear off and now they're like, okay, I got to get back to general hospital. I don't even know if that's still a show, but I think the Days of Our Lives is. And it's super distracting, you know, when they've got it turned out super loud. I was in somebody's house the other day, I got to tell you the story, and it was one of these soaps. And I'm working on this, I think it was an oven or something, and this lady just like really cranks this thing up, like ridiculously loud. And I looked at her, I was like, I can't even hear what I'm doing, man. Is there any way like, oh, sorry, I just really like this show. And you know, I figured it'd kind of help you while you're working around back there. And you know, sometimes it kind of helps to get your mind off things. And I was like, yeah, I just, I got to be able to listen for things, you know. Super distracting, super blasphemous too, by the way, super blasphemous. But here's a quick thing that I took about soap operas. I went to Wikipedia and just basically snatched the first thing that caught my attention. And what you're going to see is this basically fits into the definition of a wise fable, which fits into First Timothy chapter four, verse seven. Okay, listen to this. It says, about soap operas, romance, secret relationships, extramarital affairs, genuine hate, have been the basis for many soap opera storylines. Okay, remember what the definition said, unverified claims with exaggerated and or inaccurate details. That's what a lot of these shows are. They're just exaggerations of life stories that really have no meaning, no profitability whatsoever. But with soap operas, it goes on to say this, in U.S. daytime serials, the most popular soap opera characters and the most popular storylines often involved a romance of the sort presented in paperback romance novels. Soap opera storylines weave intricate, convoluted, and sometimes confusing tales of characters who have affairs, meet mysterious strangers, and fall in love. They commit adultery, all of which keeps audiences hooked on the unfolding story. It also goes on to say they have crimes such as kidnapping, rapes, and even murder. And it may go unpunished if the perpetrator is to be retained in the ongoing story. So go back to Galatians chapter five. You know what? Those are like wise fables. More extreme, but I mean they're all exaggerations, unverified claims, they're all things that haven't happened. It's make believe. What profitability will that bring a person in life? Zero. And what did that study say? That your brain's more active when it's sleeping than when watching TV in general, but when you subject yourself to that kind of programming, look, you've been brought under that power. You've definitely brought yourself under that power. Now look at Galatians 519. Now the works of the flesh are manifest. So he's saying, hey, hey guys, guess what? I want to show you, I want to teach you what the works of the flesh are so you can watch out and be careful. It says the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, and heresies. Sound like a soap opera? Sound like a horror movie? Sound like a radar movie? Sound like garbage? Verse 21, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, and as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now does that mean you have to not do those things in heaven? No. You missed the boat. You didn't read the first four chapters. He's saying, hey, these people who subject themselves to that lifestyle that are unsaved, all they have are the works of the flesh. That's all they can offer you. And you ain't going to profit nothing by subjecting your brain to that stuff for hours and hours and hours and hours on end. Go back to 1 Corinthians 6, but you know, you preach about this stuff and all of a sudden people are offended and they're mad. But hey, those are the works of the flesh. You're a bad guy, you're mean. Well so be it. You know what Jesus said? He said this in Matthew 6, 22, the light of the body is the eye. If therefore that eye be single, that whole body shall be full of light. So obviously the believer who's fixed on his word gets saved. You have, you know, you're, you're, you're, you have the new man. I mean, and that's light and you got to figure, you know, it's more profitable for me to walk in that as opposed to going back under, you know, the power of this garbage and these works of the flesh. I mean, think about that. What does this, what did Jesus, why did he put that verse in the Bible? The light of the body is the eye. What you subject your eyeballs to affects your heart, your soul and your mind. A lot of us are here this evening because we watched a sermon on YouTube. That affected you in a good way, in a good way, right? That's how the new IFB got started. So there's positive consequences and then there's negative consequences. You've seen the effects. You've seen the fruits of positive preaching that's been on the internet and these documentaries that these guys put out. It's done a lot of good. It's done great things, right? I'm talking probably thousands and thousands of people in the world have gotten saved by watching after the tribulation new world order Bible versions. But how many millions of people won't get saved because they watched general hospital or they watch days of our lives or they just subject themselves to these storylines of old wives fables that are on TV. It's a joke. It's a joke. The light of the body is the eye and it affects. And you say, well, what are you saying? You just got to walk out in public with a blindfold on? No. You ever read numbers where God told them to go destroy the pictures of the Canaanites and to throw those things down in those images? You know what that means? They would have had to look at those things while they were destroying them. But you know what? The Jews were the ones that were the ones that were strong to do that stuff. See, they already developed the hatred for those people and for those things. So it was nothing, you know? So when I go out soloing or I'm in somebody's house and they got something stupid, you know what? It angers me. It doesn't tempt me. Quick recap. First Corinthians 6, 12, right where we first started. 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. The first application was what? The saved man. You've got, I mean, real Christian liberty, the saved man's not under bondage, not under the bondage of sin. You're not going to hell. But after you're saved and you read this, there's a secondary application that's like, yeah, okay, just because I can still sin and I'm free, my sins have been removed, doesn't mean that I can't be brought under the power of these things that are out there. You start doing drugs tonight, guess what? You're going to be brought under that power, that influence that's going to hurt you. It will affect you. You subject yourself to hours and hours of programming, you say, well, it's all fishing shows. Okay. Guess what? Your prayer life and your Bible reading and your fellowship is going to go way on down and you will destroy yourself as a Christian. So yeah, it's true. You won't lose your salvation from watching TV. You know, it's true that you can't lose your salvation at all. You can do whatever you want. That's a true fact. But you know what? There are consequences and not all things are profitable for us. And one thing that I just wanted to clear up, just to preach about, just to use as an example was television programming. Something we need to be careful about, you know, and it's true that it can bring you under its power, right? So we need to be careful. And you know, I've even seen this, you know, I love watching sermons. I listen to them, you know, when I have time and I watch them sometimes, you know, I don't have time to watch everybody. There's just too many out there and I got my own to write, you know, and I'm working all these hours. You have a lot of stuff going on as all of us do, but you could even use, if you even abuse that it can, it can hurt your Bible reading. That's why you have people, you know, making these crazy claims out there. You know, like I'm so new. I mean, if you have a TV, you're a devil. I've heard people say stuff like that. Oh, you, I don't even know that person saved. He got a TV in his house. What a hypocrite. How do you know what he's watching on that thing? You see what I mean? There's no discernment there. If all you do is listen to sermons, you don't read the Bible. Okay. Yeah, they're going to profit you, but too much is going to hurt you. It always goes back to this every time. This needs to be the focus, the main thing, right? And then that's, what's going to make those sermons apply to you even more. Okay. So let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for the truth that you bring to us week after week. I just pray you fill us with boldness, Lord, and I pray you just give us some, some areas to go soul-winding in, Lord, that'd be receptive this week. And that we would get some more people saved, Lord, and calm the fears down of people that are in the community that we might get more saved and pray that you bless the fellowship after the service in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.