Join us as we take a deep dive into the teachings of Apostle Paul concerning idols and cultural compromises. Through a study of 1 Corinthians, we uncover the balance between exercising Christian liberty and remaining considerate of others’ beliefs in a diverse cultural landscape. David Hawking sheds light on how these ancient teachings remain profoundly relevant in addressing today’s ethical dilemmas. The episode also includes thought-provoking insights into how the modern church can prevent the slippery slope of cultural compromise and whether personal freedoms should be evaluated through the lens of God’s glory and communal responsibility.
You know, whenever anybody wants to deceive and undermine the churches and the believers, I don’t care whether they’re on television or radio or wherever they are or whatever they’re doing, if they really have wrong motives, I’m not talking about people here who’ve got problems like we all do. I’m talking about real charlatans, real hypocrites. They’ve got ulterior motives and they’re trying to deceive. Whenever they do that, have you ever noticed that they want to proclaim themselves as being speakers for God in some way? They got the authority of God. They want you to kind of bow down and say, wow, heavy.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is the Thursday edition of Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking. On today’s program, we’re stepping back into the fiery judgment seat of the Son of God. In Revelation chapter 2, verses 18 through 29, Jesus is speaking to the church at Thyatira. And you know something? He’s not whispering. His eyes are like a flame of fire and his feet like burnished bronze and his message uncompromising. This isn’t just a gentle nudge. It’s a direct confrontation with a church that’s been playing both sides. We’ll open your Bible to Revelation chapter 2, verses 18 to 29, as David Hawking continues this critical message called Immoral Practices. And we’ll get started in just a moment. First, Matt and I want to quickly share a way to help you get the most out of our current study in Revelation. A number of you have told us that our sermon notes outlines are excellent tools for following along as my dad teaches and saving key points, definitions, references, cross-references, and more. Look at the complete package of David’s sermon notes for our current radio series in Revelation. Matt, folks tell us these are so helpful as they listen to the messages here on radio. And the complete package is just $10 as a download. You can purchase and get it right away or in printed form. You know, all 48 messages in the series, Jim, are included. You can get the most out of our daily study time in Revelation here on radio and online. And again, the sermon notes, the Revelation sermon notes are just $10 by download or PDF CD. Call us in Canada at 1-888-75BIBLE. In the U.S., call us at 1-800-75BIBLE. And Bible by the numbers? 24253. Also, your resource purchase or donation will help the Ministries of Hope for today and make you a partner in the work with us. Please start by praying for hope for today. And do give if God lays the work on your heart. And you can purchase the study notes and download them right away at davidhawking.org. And I’ll tell you just a bit later how you can order a print version of the study notes. Stay tuned. Right now, though, here’s David.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’d like you to notice at least six things from this portion of God’s Word. Notice in verse 18 the examination of the church by our Lord. The second thing I’d like you to notice is in verse 19, and that’s the evidence of spiritual life. The third thing I draw to your attention is the example of moral decay that was here. Mentioned in verse 20 and 21. Isn’t it interesting? He says, I have a few things against you. Verse 20. Look back at verse 14. To the church at Pergamos, he said the same thing. I have a few things against thee. Go back to chapter 2, verse 4. To the church at Ephesus, I have somewhat against thee. Evidently one thing there, but now several things. Several things in Pergamos, now several things in Thyatira. Well, you could summarize it all with one word. Jezebel. Jezebel caused one of the leaders of Israel to get heavily involved in sin and the people of God. Jezebel. He should never have married this woman Ahab, but he did. She became very powerful and influential. In trying to analyze this, I’d like to give you six statements about Jezebelism, if you can put it that way, kind of coining a word. But is Jezebelism in your life and mine? Let’s walk through these six things and see, just examining what God says. First of all, she’s a woman. Sorry, ladies. You know, sometimes people get upset that in the book of Revelation, the women always have a bad rep. You know? It’s interesting that the harlot woman is called Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations. But there are some women that are good. We have, for instance, a woman describing the nation of Israel. We have also a woman who is the bride of the coming bridegroom. So, ladies, there is some balance. But she’s a woman. Number two, she calls herself a prophetess. It doesn’t say she is. She calls herself a prophetess, verse 20. God didn’t call her that. She called herself a prophetess. The third thing I notice is that she teaches and seduces believers about two things. You can always tell where Jezebelism is. There are two things being promoted, two things being taught. One, sexual immorality. It says she teaches and seduces my servants to commit fornication. And secondly… Food sacrificed to idols. She teaches them to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Folks, this was the problem in those pagan orgies in Thyatira. Here’s your job. You’re in a trade union. Maybe you’re a maker of the beautiful dyes that Lydia herself was selling. And you’ve got this pagan feast, and they come up regularly, and you’ve got to attend. It’s required. You go to the feast, and what is it all about? All the food is being dedicated to the local deities. And Rome loved to tolerate its polytheism, and you could have a god of each trade guild, and they did. And here you are supposed to come, and almost in a mockery of religion, you’re supposed to eat meat that’s been sacrificed to the idols. They even tell you that. Now, Paul instructed us in the Bible that if you go to somebody’s home in ancient times, and they offer you meat that they got from the marketplace that was offered to idols, and they don’t say anything about it, The Bible says, don’t worry about it. Don’t ask any conscience. Go ahead and eat the meat. No questions for conscience. But if they bring it up in an unbeliever’s home, they bring it up and say, hey, by the way, this meat was offered to idols. What are you going to do? Then he says, don’t eat it at all. Very interesting. Now, is he teaching compromise there? No, he’s dealing with a very serious cultural problem that I wonder if we have applied properly to our life. I wonder if we’ve seen it in the light of the modern cultural context of where we live. Let’s take a look at this. Go to 1 Corinthians, please. 1 Corinthians, and start with chapter 8. It’s in both chapter 8 and 10 of 1 Corinthians, about meat offered to idols. Now here’s the scene. In every city, there are all kinds of idols. when you come to the marketplace to buy some meat, the one that’s offered to the idols always has a little sign on it telling you that it was offered to such and such a god. Why did they do that? Because they want you to be religious? No. Because it’s the best food. You see, the prices can be higher for that meat. Because when all the pagans would teach people to offer food to the gods, oh, by the way, you do know who normally ate most of it, or at least a good portion of it. You know, the priests that were running the pagan system. Because once you left, they just kind of cleaned house unless somebody saw them. And sometimes they just took their portion and then let the rest of it go to the marketplace. And they let the guy make some money off of it. And then whatever profit they sold it to him on, you know, they keep it for themselves. It’s really kind of an interesting thing going on. So the guy in the marketplace was selling meat. He definitely wants you to know this was offered to idols because that’s the best stuff. Everybody following? Not only in buying in the marketplace, but when you go to somebody’s home, what do you do? Very interesting problem. 1 Corinthians 8 says, And let’s pick it up in verse 4. As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there’s no other God but one. But though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are gods many and lords many. I mean, that’s what the world says. But to us there’s but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. However… There is not in every man that knowledge. 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. But meat or food commendeth us not to God. For neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worst. Verse 9. But take heed. Here’s the warning to believers. Does it matter about what our culture is doing and where we work and the kind of things that are going on and all that stuff? Does it matter? Yes, it matters. It does matter. Sometimes our liberty becomes license. We don’t care about the effect on people. Verse 9. Take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours… Because we do have liberty in Christ, except in areas that are specifically described as sin. But when it’s not called sin, there’s a great deal of liberty and a great deal of freedom as a believer. He said, take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. Who are the weak brothers? They are the ones that… believe there is an issue. They go in and they see the meat, and if there’s a sign on it, or if anybody says it is, it is absolutely a no-no. They can’t touch it. They will ask, even when there’s no sign, I want to know, is this meat offered to us? Because if it was, I’m not buying it. There’s nothing wrong with meat, and an idol is nothing. We have liberty in the Lord in this matter. But if the liberty becomes a license to do whatever we want, not caring of the effect upon even a legalistic brother, for the weak brother is the legalistic one. Check out Romans 14. It’s the same message. Now watch this. For if any man see thee who has knowledge, sitting at the table in the idol’s temple, that’s the problem of Thyatira right there. shall not the conscience of him who is weak, a legalistic brother, who doesn’t know that you’re a Christian, you don’t hold any special feeling about the meat at all, but he sees you in there, will he not be emboldened or persuaded to eat those things which are offered to idols? Will it not lead him into some sort of compromise? Because you, who he trusted and looked up to, who said you were so mature, you had all this freedom in Christ, will he not be affected by your example? Boy, I know that for sure. Verse 11, through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ died. For when you sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat or food make my brother to offend, I’ll eat no meat, no food while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. Hey, that’s pretty strong, isn’t it? I mean, we may have a little difficulty understanding, but there is so much in there that’s easy reading even for a child. We can quibble about the significance of meat-offered idols, but there’s one thing clearly even a child can understand. There are some things in this world that we willingly refrain from doing because of its effect on others. Boy, that’s a hard message, isn’t it? Look over at chapter 10, 1 Corinthians. Chapter 10. Verse 18, You know, when you brought your sacrifice, and in certain cases of the sacrifice, you also ate what was burned on the altar. You also had fellowship there. You ate food and bread that was fixed together, a meal offering. You also participated, so to speak, of the altar, partakers. The idea of fellowship there is very interesting. Keep reading. What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? Of course not, would be the answer. But I say that the things which the Gentiles or the pagans, the unbelievers, sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, to demons, not to God. Whoever these pagan gods are, they are demons. They’re the spiritual wickedness in high places. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils or demons. You can’t drink the cup of the Lord. He’s talking about the communion here, which was described in verse 16 and 17. You can’t do that and the cup of demons at the same time. You can’t be partakers of the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? Now watch the teaching here. All things are lawful for me. That is everything, of course, that’s not called sin. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Now, I think we all know that there’s a lot of things in life that really don’t build us up. They don’t edify us. And we really wouldn’t be hurt if we cut some of that out. See, we really wouldn’t be hurt. Now, suppose you watch an hour of something that’s really good. You watch an hour of it every day. Now, you wouldn’t really fall apart if you only watched it three days, for instance, instead of every day. So we understand the principle. What Paul is saying is, hey, everything’s lawful. Of course, he’s not talking about sin here. But all things are not expedient. They’re not the thing to do at the moment. And all things are lawful, but they don’t necessarily edify. Verse 24, let no man seek his own. Don’t be selfish in this. But every man another’s, and wealth is in italics. But that which belongs to another. Care about the other person. Whatever is sold in the market, that eat. Asking no question for conscience sake. Hey, you’re there to get food, buy it, go home, eat it. Don’t worry about it. But watch this. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast and you be disposed to go, whatever is set before you eat, asking no question for conscience sake. You’re with an unbeliever. You’re trying to win them to Christ. You’re not going to make an issue over the food. But now watch this. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice to idols, obviously testing you, then eat not for his sake that showed it, and for conscience’ sake. Now watch this. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. That includes all that meat. But conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other. God wants us to care about the effect of it on others. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? It isn’t my conscience that’s involved, an idol’s nothing to me, and there’s nothing wrong with a meat. But all things that are lawful are not expedient. All things don’t edify. And I’ve got to think through seriously what I’m doing, whether or not it’s productive, and what its effect is on other people. Verse 30, for if I by grace, and we all receive God’s grace, be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? I sit down at a meal, we serve the meat, and I thank the Lord for the food. Well, why would I be criticized for that? Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, punchline, do all to the glory of God. All of a sudden, I realize that cultural compromise is rooted in the failure to be committed to the glory of God. I ask you folks, what does Romans 3.23 say? You Christians have been around for a while. For all have sinned and what? Say it. Come short of the what? Glory of God. How interesting. So cultural compromise in our life that does lead us into very serious problems is rooted in the fact that we aren’t committed to the glory of God. whether I eat or drink or whatever I do, to do all the glory of God. That means that sometimes, because I want to glorify God, I don’t eat the meat. Why? Because they’ve made an issue of it, and I don’t want anybody thinking that I’m eating that because I have any honor or respect for that idol. To me, an idol is nothing. I serve the one true God. But if they’re making an issue of it, I’m not going to do it. Why? Because I have a conscience that’s bothering me? No, I can eat the meat. but the conscience of the other man I’m concerned about. The effect on him. That’s why chapter 8 was so important. Don’t use your liberty to cause somebody else to stumble. And that’s what we often do. Verse 32, give no offense, that is in these matters, neither to the Jews, nor to the Greeks or Gentiles, nor to the church of God. I would suggest to you that if you’re in a gathering of Jewish people, it would probably be wise not to serve ham. That doesn’t take a whole lot of intelligence, but it probably would be a wise thing. Pig is not real popular in Jerusalem, okay? Give no offense, he says, to the Jews. Don’t give offense to the Gentiles or, interestingly, to the church of God, which is composed of both Jews and Gentiles. How offensive we can sometimes be to believers, because the whole argument of 1 Corinthians is that there are some brothers and sisters among us that really are hung up on a lot of things. And we march on in our liberty and say, oh, that shouldn’t bother you. Wait a minute. If it bothers you, don’t do it. Don’t do it. Go back to Revelation 2. So all that you see is in the background. And here to a church… He’s saying, wait a minute, you’ve got Jezebelism. You know what Jezebelism, it teaches and seduces believers, my servants, to go along with all this to the point not just of cultural compromise, but now indefinite sinning. By the way, cultural compromise that goes away from glorifying God often is the first step that leads you to disobedience and sin. I don’t think we need to go any further with this, do you? You see, it’s okay if we’re talking about something that isn’t a big heavy-duty problem to you. But, you know, if we start talking about a few other areas, it might seem like I’m meddling rather than preaching. It might seem like we’re stepping on our toes rather than dealing with the Word. Listen, it means something, my fellow believers. And the truth of the matter is a lot of us do fall into cultural compromise that eventually sets up the problem of sinning. And we all know it. Be careful. What happened at Thyatira? These people love the Lord. Are they serving the Lord? Yes. Were they committed to the right message? Yes. Did they have a love for the Lord? Yes. Were they patiently enduring? You bet. And the Lord says, I know all about it. Are they growing in the Lord? Yes. But you know what? Between their fellowships as believers, they got to go to work. And in that problem, there were pressures on them to compromise and step over the line, so to speak, and go along with the pagans and not take a stand. Why? Because they didn’t want to lose their job.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back to close out our study time in just a moment, so do stay with us. Just ahead of that, Matt’s here, and we have a wonderful Bible study resource to tell you about. Western culture is working furiously to abandon democratic principles and moral values. we no longer seem capable of controlling ourselves and our pursuits of pleasure and material gain. The good life, Matt, the good life has brought corruption, greed, and self-destructive narcissism. You know, Jim, we talk of human rights, but care little for the innocent and plenty of talk, but little true compassion and care. The sanctity of life. is sacrificed on the altar of convenience, career, and license. The rights and privacy of the individual seem more important than our responsibilities to one another and our desire to work for the common good. Yeah, I mean, whatever happened to words like duty, altruism, responsibility, accountability, and concern for others? I mean, why do crime and violent acts flourish in our cities And our police departments seem helpless in their efforts to control the rampage. All right. Our news sources. Matt, this is something that is close to my heart because for years, as you know, I had classes in journalism. I was on the school newspaper. And it was impressed upon us repeatedly to maintain the highest level of honesty, integrity in reporting. And today… Our news sources so often lack integrity, to say the least. Entertainment outlets glorify evil as good and good as evil. The most tragic of all, Jim, is that we’ve left God out of our public life. We’ve decided that the so-called political doctrine of separation of church and state means people of faith stay out of government. But government can intrude on our beliefs and practices. Yeah, we need a moral and spiritual revival. Do indeed. Well, this month, folks, we have a powerful and encouraging way to say thanks for your more. Yeah, it’s my dad’s book, Whatever Happened to Morality. Great book it is. Inside, your dad takes us into the word and history for answers, encouragement. This book is so hard to put down. And your donation today is a ministry investment in the future work of Hope for Today. And as always, please do pray for Hope for Today. You can get your copy of Whatever Happened to Morality by calling 800-75-BIBLE. That’s 800-75-242-53. In Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE, 888-75-242-53. You can also make the purchase on our website, DavidHawking.org, DavidHawking.org. And remember, you can get our complete Revelation radio series on MP3, all 48 messages in a pack right now for a special price of just $30. What a powerful way this is to save and preserve everything you’re hearing on radio. You can order online or by phone. And if you’d like to contact us via good old-fashioned letter, well, we’d love to hear from you. You can write to Hope for Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, Abbotsford is A-B-B-O-T-S-F-O-R-D-B-C, V2S 8P1. Letters are a wonderful source of encouragement for the entire team here. They help us to understand how God is using the broadcast to build up the body of Christ, to strengthen believers, and to reach hearts with the truth. Amen. It might be a prayer request that you have, a praise report, or maybe you want to send us a financial gift to help us stay on the air. We could use that help as well. In any case, thank you for taking the time to write. Well, as promised, here again is David.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’re studying the wonderful book of Revelation. Chapter 2, looking at the churches that were existing in Asia Minor or western Turkey of today. And we’re at the church at Thyatira. God says about the church, I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. And he said, I’ll cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her in a great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. I don’t know what you know about repentance, but I have a little booklet called Whatever Happened to Repentance. Hardly anybody preaches about it anymore, and yet that’s over and over again said in the final messages of our Lord to the churches. Well, I sure hope that you enjoy the study that we do of this. The messages to the churches of Revelation are so important for us today. It’s our Lord’s last message to the churches, even though there’s quite a bit of stuff in the book of Revelation, as we will see in the days ahead. We’re going to be in this book for some time. I’m so excited about it. I hope you are, too. God bless you.
SPEAKER 01 :
If you’d like the booklet David mentioned called Whatever Happened to Repentance, and this is a wonderful follow-up to today’s Bible study here on radio, we can get this Whatever Happened to Repentance at DavidHawking.org, and the price, just $5. DavidHawking.org, or give us a call. And before we wrap up, would you do us a favor? Take a moment and let us know how and where you listen to Hope for Today. It might be in the car or at the gym or during your early morning quiet time. A friend of mine told me that one time he listened to David’s Bible teaching on radio as he got ready for his day managing an ice cream shop. And what a blessing it was to hear that. Well, your note will help us do more than just count hits. It helps us stay sharp. We’re serious about stewarding God’s money wisely. And we want to keep this broadcast going strong in the places where it’s actually making an impact. Well, next time on Hope for Today, the message continues in Revelation chapter 2. Do join us right here on Hope for Today.
Join us as we take a deep dive into the teachings of Apostle Paul concerning idols and cultural compromises. Through a study of 1 Corinthians, we uncover the balance between exercising Christian liberty and remaining considerate of others’ beliefs in a diverse cultural landscape. David Hawking sheds light on how these ancient teachings remain profoundly relevant in addressing today’s ethical dilemmas. The episode also includes thought-provoking insights into how the modern church can prevent the slippery slope of cultural compromise and whether personal freedoms should be evaluated through the lens of God’s glory and communal responsibility.
