I invite you to turn in the Bible tonight to the book of 1 Corinthians. After some time, we're returning to our study of 1 Corinthians. And last time, we looked at 1 Corinthians 10, verses 1 through 13. Tonight, we'll turn to verses 14 to the end of the chapter. And as I was going through my Bible, I found Katrina's verse from this morning. So I'm going to work it into the sermon somehow. That's my goal. This is 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and we will pick up at verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread. We who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? No. I imply that what pagan sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I don't want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any questions on the ground of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it. for the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience. I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to jews or the greeks or to the church of god just as i try to just as i try to please everyone in everything i do not seeking my own advantage but that of many that they may be saved and i'll quote verse one be imitators of me as i am of christ may the lord bless the hearing i don't know about you but i have always felt somewhat disconnected from what god was describing in the Ten Commandments in connecting it with my own life. What do I mean by that? In other words, I knew it was wrong in many of those commandments. I knew it was wrong to steal. That seems so plain to me. I mean, you don't go take something that doesn't belong to you. I knew it was wrong to commit sexual immorality. I know it's wrong to gossip. But when I looked at that first table of the law and I began to read through, even as a child when they would be read in worship and they would read through the first commands there, the first and the second commandment, I struggled. How am I doing that? Think of it. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. That was pretty clear to me. I don't ever remember carving out anything. I don't ever remember doing anything that Israel did. I don't remember hammering out a golden calf. I'd never had any gold, but I don't remember doing stuff like that. I guess I knew intuitively there was more to it. Then I would move to the second command. And I would hear the second command. And things didn't seem to get clearer for me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image. that's first commandment, no other god, second now the image, or any likeness of anything that's heaven above or in the earth beneath, or that's in the water under the earth, you shall not, here it was, bow down to them. I don't do that. I just don't do that. I don't bow down to carved out images. You shall not worship them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. I knew that I was not supposed to worship other gods, and I knew that I was not to carve out images and worship those images. So what, then, did this mean for me if I wasn't outwardly doing that? And I think because of that struggle, because, and I would hear arguments about certain things and about doing those things because of that, I never took those two commandments as seriously as I should have. I didn't understand why they were so dangerous. Images? I mean, what are idols? They're little figurines. Are you kidding? I'm not so barbaric to do that, you know? So what was really at the heart of this? What was he after? But something always moved me about it when I would listen to these commands. And it was the statement, do not worship them or bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. Is he jealous over sticks? Is he jealous over figurines? Why would he be so jealous over a mere image? A piece of wood. Why would that bother this God so much? Well, tonight, I believe we've come to a passage that really helped me. I know it helped me, and I hope it will help you understand what is at stake with this issue of idols in the first and the second commandment. And how much is really behind this problem of idolatry. The passage tonight that is in front of us in 1 Corinthians really has one great purpose. It's to help Christians understand how dangerous idolatry is and how real the power is of idolatry. And it's helping Christians to flee from it with all of their might, with all that they have, to run the other way from it. So by the time that we're done tonight, I hope you'll at least have a better understanding of what it looks like. I hope that it will give you some motivation to sprint the other way and to be very, a lot more serious about what it means when we are involved in this particular sin of idolatry. And I think it's a sin that we need to talk about a whole lot more today. It seems to be, one well-known pastor says, he can talk about a lot of things. He can talk about sin in general, But when he starts hitting on idolatry, what he's finding is he has some kind of inroad with people. Idolatry. The summarizing statement tonight comes from verse 14. Where we read, therefore my beloved, flee from idolatry. That is important. Because the only other time I read him giving that kind of statement was back in chapter 6 of corinthians when he said flee from sexual immorality and so he's clearly made a link here he's clearly made a link and he has treated it with the same kind of intensity and the same kind of response to this particular sin he's not saying resist it he's not saying stand up and fight it he's not saying strive hard he's saying run the other way as fast as you possibly can get away from it just like you would the problem of sexual immorality men know how dangerous that problem is and the hold of that they've got to run they can't put themselves in any kind of situation that would ever lend itself to that because if you take one step you'll go too and paul treats idolatry the same way ironically flee it book as fast as you can the other way. Its hold on you is as powerful as that of sexual immorality. Now, I need to remind us here for a moment the context. You remember what was happening in Corinth. Since we haven't been here a few weeks, let me just briefly set it again. Corinth was a city full of problems, at least from the perspective of the Christian. it was a prosperous place it was a a well new exciting developed place a well-to-do innovative place it was full of temple guilds and prostitutes and in these local temple guilds they would have these these trade gods or deities that they worshiped now there would be real blood involved there would be real sacrificing involved to do business they would have to walk in there and And the common way you would is you'd sit around a meal and you'd sit around the table, you'd do your business dealings, you would feast, you would eat. And the heart of the problem was, was that when they went in to do daily life into Corinth, these Christians had to go into these guilds and they had to interact with the culture. The problem presented itself is that the food in these guilds was plainly being offered to idols. The meats, you'll notice the emphasis here on meat, was being offered up and it was being sacrificed to the gods. And so they were being sacrificed and then the meats would be prepared and that's how the feast, that's how the culture had, the early restaurant form, if you will. And any of these trade guilds then were exposed to a lot of perverse practices. Now, you can go back and listen to all the history and background that I've given on that. But the problem was that many of them had begun to justify this behavior as a way to be involved. To say, you know, it was okay. Whatever they stepped out of in the past, whatever they had come out of in their previous life, in the pagan life when they were involved in these things and had no conscience about it now they're finding themselves coming right back into contact with it and what had begun to happen was many of the strong or the wise in corinth began to justify these things and partaking of these things using their gospel freedom as a reason we're free we're free and paul's concerned about two things. Paul's concerned, number one, they're joining back their Christianity with paganism. The very thing God called them out of. Number two, it ends up very much, they have no consideration of how, and you'll notice this has been a big emphasis in this section, of how this is hurting others. You know how much self-denial has been emphasized in this tonight? Don't think of yourself highly no one seek your own good seek the good of your neighbor that's been a thread through this the whole time of denial thinking of others denying yourself learning to live in sacrificial service for others so you can imagine this here are all these so-called strong and they're sitting there and then there's the confused in Corinth who are saying, can we, think of the poor confused soul on this. Can we, can we really go back in there and do that? Really? Are you sure? Can you imagine somebody in Corinth saying that to the wise? Are you sure we should be in there eating that food? Is it really okay to eat stuff offered to idols i i thought we weren't to touch that stuff paul's been working through this and in anticipation of their argument you know the argument would have gone something like this come on paul you're being ridiculous these aren't these idols aren't anything you're giving too much attention to wood pieces they're not god we know that we would never worship them i mean just read isaiah 46 read what the old testament said we're not doing that we're not going to go bow down to these deities false deities so so then if they're not real what would be any harm in eating their food that's offered to them it's all the lords the earth is the Lord. You're being a little bit uptight, being a little strict. You're too strict about your Christianity. And it's with this anticipation that he is bringing home something that they had not considered. It's in this context that verse 14 becomes so powerful. You have to flee idolatry he had given a link to the nation of israel in chapter 14 remember there where he said in verse 7 don't become idolaters as some of them were in making the connection with the golden calf event and what paul is doing here is he's drawing a line he's drawing a line back to israel and he's drawing direct line to israel and then to them and then to us saying that idolatry is just as real just as israel was doing in the wilderness it's just as real for you and i'm going to draw the the line tonight and say it's just as real for us the same thing Israel did and you've got to be so aware of it that when you see it you run now that's powerful because it again provokes how in the world could we do what Israel did I just wouldn't do that I just wouldn't make a bull calf I wouldn't worship it and paul knew knows that this thought would come in their mind paul oh paul knows paul knows that's what they're thinking and so in verse 15 he says i speak listen to this i speak as to wise men okay i think this is a bit sarcastic by the way i speak as to wise you think you're wise back in chapter 8 he told them their knowledge was puffing them up and it wasn't leading to what what was the fruit in their life it wasn't edification it wasn't building up somebody else it wasn't the good of somebody else or the good of their neighbor i speak to you who are wise so i'll tell you what then go ahead and make a judgment about what i say here it is now he does something honestly that was one of the light bulb moments for me right here light bulb moments uh about the seriousness of idolatry and understanding idolatry which i never understood what is paul's linchpin to convince the corinthians that what they're doing is dangerous how would you convince them of that i mean you all would say the same thing tonight we don't believe in those little buddha gods when we go down to you walk into someone's house and you see it on the doorstep none of you would ever bow to that right how does he answer that verse 16 the cup of blessing you judge that we bless is it not a participation in the blood of christ the bread that we break is it not a participation in the body of christ i don't know if you've ever thought of this i don't know how much you've reflected on that verse but what practice does he raise that is all very well known in the church something that is special that we do you all know it's the lord's supper we're coming there next week i think everyone here would tonight say well something very special happens there right something very special happens when we come and we partake of the lord's supper what if i pressed you on that tonight almost universally if i said well what special is happening about the table? What's special is about the table that is happening when we partake? I think all of you would say, and fair enough, it was said in the Belgic, we're remembering Jesus. Most Christians would say that today. And then you would probably have a statement of, and tell me, right? What would you say is special about the Lord's Supper? You would tell me how this is a wonderful time, because these are the answers I get, of personal renewal, of me evaluating how I'm living my life, seeing how I'm doing, and then coming and making some kind of commitment to Jesus to live better. Right? Wrong. I remember years ago, sitting at home, and the mailman came, I opened up the mail and there was a personal communion pack in my name and in that pack were some vows like in the privacy of my home I in my quiet time I could take communion and recommit myself to Jesus I didn't do it by the way is that what communion is here's the power of the argument tonight don't you know you wise judge this that when we partake of the supper there is an actual fellowship and sharing the word in the blood of christ what did he just say do you mean paul let me follow this there's something that we're actually participating in yep what is it the very body and blood of christ when you come to the table you are participating in the body and the blood of christ by faith the Holy Spirit gives you a reality spiritually remember what the Belgic said tonight I'll read it here in a second nourishment so that you are in the supper actually communing with the risen Christ did you catch that word there with his blood well you said well I'm a little confused by that you don't mean physically no I don't mean that we eat him physically I'm saying there's real spiritual communing with him, that you are participating in something that you have not given a lot of thought to. And it makes me feel a little bit better because the church in Corinth didn't understand this either. Life is being given to you. Whose life? Jesus' there is real spiritual participation it's not absent you are actually in a spiritual reality the spirit through the supper is binding us as one you're communing and that's why the belgic tonight is so helpful think about it that it represents to us the spiritual and heavenly bread Christ has instituted, and earthly and visible bread is the sacrament of His body, and wine is the sacrament of His blood. Listen, He did this to testify to us, that as truly as we take and hold this sacrament in our hands, and eat and drink it with our mouths, by which our life is sustained, so truly we receive into our soul for spiritual life the true body and blood of Christ our only Savior we receive these by faith which is the hand and mouth of our souls now you say well I don't fully understand that that's at this point okay there's mystery to this but you should get out of this passage something very special and spiritual that you are participating in the body and blood of Christ in this. That's what Christ kept telling people. That's what offended people. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life. So you better not say that doesn't happen because that must happen in your life. You better eat it and you better drink it. At that, many people got ticked off and walked away. Paul says, you know this. This phenomenon happened at the altar in Israel. When God appointed a feast in Israel and they were together bound as one community at the feast in the presence of Yahweh, he was communing with them. The tabernacle told you that. We'll see that. And they enjoyed his presence. Now, what did that just do? Well, it raised out of the roof your view of communion to say, well, he's making a point. He just made a point. Something very spiritual is going on when I come to the table. I'm communing with the risen Jesus himself. Now what does that have to do with idolatry? Verse 19. What do I imply there? That food offered to idols is anything or an idol is anything? No, of course not. I imply, here it is, that what pagan sacrifice they offered a demon and not to God. And I don't want you to be participants with demons. Whoa. That's something they'd not consider. You can't drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can't partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we, and here it is, think of second commandment, shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? I am a jealous God. Are we stronger than he? Okay, so let me put this together tonight. You're correct. Idol's nothing. I know you're not going around bowing to the little Buddhas. But just like in the supper, just like in the supper, think about this. You actually partake of Christ spiritually. You eat his flesh and you drink his blood. When you go into those feasts and there is food offered to idols? The idol may not be anything. It may just be an empty idea of man. It may just be an empty idea of a cattle or something. Then what's wrong? When they sacrifice, do you know what's behind that idol? Do you know what's actually happening in those feasts? They actually are communing with demons. Whoa. And he says, I don't want you to have any kind of participation with demons. Do you get that? People don't realize that behind the idols of men's hearts are what? Demons. Do you ever think of that with an idol? Do you ever think that what's behind an idol is an actual demon? An idol may not be a god, but it represents something. It represents what's behind that idol, what's backing that idol, what's animating a power so that men's hearts are given to it. That can explain for you the control of idolatry over people's lives. And so there's a direct communication through the idol to the demonic realm. It's a portal, if you will. I don't know how else to say it. The gods of wood and stone had a direct connection to the supernatural powers behind them so that when they were eating this stuff, there was a direct participation with demons. So the comparison then goes like this. If in the supper you receive the bread and wine, the power's not in the bread and wine. That's where the other views are wrong. The symbol, they're signs and seals of a greater reality so that when it's mixed with faith, when you believe that you are actually communing and participating in the body and the blood of Jesus and eating that spiritually, there's real participation there. So too, then, when you go in and mess with stuff you shouldn't be messing with, those are signs of another reality. Demonic powers behind it. So that you are some way participating in the demonic realm with demons now people could have looked at pharaoh this morning and said this is just a man you know just a man you know what was behind that it was satan you know paul will say later to the corinthians for such men are false apostles deceitful workers disguising themselves i'm going to come back to that so i think of psalm 96 5 for all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols but the lord made the heavens you know the septuagint read all the gods of the nations are demons paul's saying look the pagans aren't just believing in things that have no power that's what we've got to remember they're not just believing in things that have no power when they offer up food to idols it actually becomes demonic worship they're becoming participants now that's sobering i don't think in the west where is understanding of this i don't think we take seriously enough the demonic realm and paul is saying here i don't want you to have any koinonia with demons so paul viewed these meals as sacrifices to demons and he says you can't drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons. God and mammon, the whole separation that was there. This was idolatry. Because in the outward signs of food and drink to the gods, there was that connection. Okay, now I can begin to understand the commandment a little bit more, can I? You shall have no other gods before me. That there's something far more lethal to idolatry than we ever realized when it comes to things that people worship and objects that people worship and things that master people's lives. And by the way, that is why it's directly connected to not making images. You see, what a demon would love is to have something created that's not God. That is the work and idea of men's hearts. And the demon would love to set that in front of it and represent it as God so that you would bow down to it. And if our hearts are idol factories, as we all believe, you don't want to make an image. And you say, well, where's the point of contact between us and Corinth? Well, if many of you were running down to the Masonic Lodge and these sorts of things, I'd make a connection. I doubt many of you are doing that. I could get a little more specific. Sometimes I'll see interfaith prayer services and an Indian gets up and he prays to his god and and it's all in general of course it's all in the name of god the muslim gets up and prays to god and the christian and so on you have these interfaith services and apply it it can all generally be in the name of god but as christ's lordship becomes one amongst the many and such and such a figure prays to his god you really should be clear about what's happening they're praying to demons and i don't think you want to be a part of that do you do i have you how about this i feel a divine jealousy for you for i betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to christ but i'm afraid that as the serpent that snake deceived eve by his cunning your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure listen sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus, can that happen? Can you have somebody preach the name of Jesus and it be a different Jesus? Yes. If someone comes and you receive a different spirit from the one you've received or a different gospel from the one you've accepted, you readily put up with it. And then Paul says this, and such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it's no surprise of his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. How do demons make inroads into people's lives today? Idolatry. In what form? When you are tolerant of everything. When you accept everything under the sun and refuse to be critical, as the New Testament tells you to do, of others. When you accept a different spirit and say it's okay, maybe because you have a family member that attends a church that is of a different spirit. When you accept a different Jesus being preached, when you accept things that are directly contrary to what the Word of God has told you about your God and your Savior, you have become an idolater because you have accepted a disguised savior behind that idea is a demon masquerading himself as an angel of light and you've got to be wise you've got to be willing to take the stand you've got to be willing to say that's wrong see how far reaching it is behind the face of idols is something that is a counterfeit to the worship of the true Christ as revealed in the Bible, just like you saw this morning. And so how does Paul apply it in closing? Well, let me give you two ways. Flee idolatry, number one, because it hurts others. Look at this. He provides a few scenarios. If you go in the meat market and buy meat, you have no knowledge it was offered to an idol. Eat it. The earth is the Lord's in all its fullness. So I want to invite you over to dinner and there's no knowledge of it. Again, you have no knowledge where that meat came from. Eat it up. Go ahead. But, but, but, but. If someone says this was offered to idols, you're going to have to apply this in certain ways, aren't you? Walk away. Take the stand. Say, no, I can't do that. And now you understand Paul's saying, do it for them. Did you get that? Your willingness to say something is wrong is love for somebody else. Your willingness to tell somebody that it is idolatry to do something and accept something is not seeking your own good, but the good of your neighbor for their conscience sake. Because you're concerned about them. And you know that they can't do those things. So you have to take the stand and that's your witness. I know that's unloving today, but that's part of being a Christian. Here's what I love about this. How do you edify others? They're going to see it in your willingness to have a conviction today on things that very few do. Didn't you see that this morning? When the persecution came, what began to happen? Conviction among the Hebrew midwives. And they were willing to say, no, we fear God, and we're not doing that. I can't participate in that because I love you. And I can't support that. I can't. What's the last thing? I close with this. Flee idolatry. This seems so simple. Because it doesn't glorify God. Is that motivating? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to the Jews or to the Greeks or the church of God just as I try to please everyone in everything I do not seeking my own advantage but that of many that they may be saved don't by compromising your Christianity bring offense to the church don't seek yourself be willing to take the stand but most of all in everything that you do have an eye to the glory of God and boys and girls that's why when we sit down at the table what do we do with our food? no lord thank you thank you for giving us this for every creature of god is good and nothing is to be refused if it's received with thanksgiving for it's sanctified by the word of god in prayer i hope you understand the problem of idolatry more and i hope it helped you to see how much is really given for you next week to enjoy what? The supper. Were you going to come and receive spiritual nourishment for your souls by receiving the broken body and shed blood of Christ? He gives you nothing less than that in the supper. I pray that you're going to find happiness in that as you come next week. And I can't help. It just came to my mind. I've got to quote Katrina's verse here. For though we walk in the flesh, we're not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments. Every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. And at the end of 1 John, I close with these words, the last words of the book. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would keep us from idols. And we now have a deeper appreciation and understanding of why it so greatly offends you. For what's behind it, what it does to master hearts, what it does to try to control people is to take us away from You as the God of our life. And I pray that we would be keenly aware of them, that we would be able to have strength to stand up to them in such a way that when they come, we run and sprint the other way, telling others, too, to stay far away from them. and that whatever we do, we would learn more and more to glorify You, whether we eat or drink in everything that we do, that we would be conscious this week to bring honor and glory to Your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.