“Only One God, Worship Him!”
(1 Corinthians 10:14-22)
Series: Chaos & Correction (1 Corinthians)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
•Take your Bibles and join me in 1 Corinthians, chapter 10 (page 772; YouVersion).
1 Corinthians is a letter that was written to a church in chaos. Paul started the church when he was in Corinth but as it grew it also grew in division and disorder. One of the problems in the church is a problem in many churches today: theological disorder. The Corinthian church desperately needed the sound teaching of Scripture to correct the chaos in their lives. So Paul has written this letter to address the needs of the Corinthian church and, because it is the Word of God, this letter also will address the needs of any Kentuckian church, any church whose members have ears to hear.
Ever since chapter 8 and verse 1, Paul has been answering a question put to him by the Corinthians about whether it was appropriate for them to eat meat that had come from animals sacrificed in the worship of false gods. In our passage this morning, Paul makes clear that while idols themselves are imaginary and useless and the Christian enjoys many freedoms, nevertheless he or she must never participate in any kind of gathering where the serving and eating of food is done in the context of worshiping false gods.
Now that may not be a problem for any of us this week. Few of us will be invited to an idol feast, a gathering where people come together to eat a meal and, at the same time, worship a false god. I mean, we will very likely get together to eat food. Six of the seven days of this week I have been in a gathering of some kind where food was served, that includes three different funeral homes, but still, six days in seven, I’ve been in the company of others where there was lots of food for folks to eat. Christians have always enjoyed getting together to eat.
But while few of us will be invited to an idol feast, this was a problem for Christians in Paul’s day. Political and social life in ancient Corinth often centered on these so-called idol feasts. It was just the way of life for many Corinthian citizens. A person was invited to a meal and everyone present at the meal understood that their eating of meat at that gathering constituted worship of the particular god to whom the animal had been sacrificed at the pagan temple. Remember there were some 26 temples scattered around ancient Corinth. So this was the way of life for many living in Corinth in the New Testament days.
And many of these Christians, then, faced the temptation to participate in these idol feasts for fear of being socially outcast. For them Paul’s statement in verse 13 was particularly encouraging, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Other Christians in Corinth were overly bold in their Christian freedoms and participated in these idol feasts without any scruples whatsoever.
So in our passage this morning, Paul makes clear that eating meat in these worship contexts is always wrong. It is equal to idolatry, worshiping any god other than the true and living God. In teaching this, Paul reminds us what we are doing when we participate in the Lord’s Supper. He says Christians are participating or sharing in Christ. And Paul also warns about the demonic nature of idolatry. The worship of any other god, including all other religions, is to participate or share in something demonic, to fellowship with demons. Listen for these teachings as I read our passage.
•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15 I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say.
16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
18 Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?
20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
•Pray.
Introduction:
I feel sure if I asked you to raise your hand if you had ever worshiped demons or worshiped Satan, few of you—if any of you—would raise your hands. We tend to associate Satanic worship or demonic worship with the overtly dark, macabre and sinister. We picture people dressed in black hoodies, gathering in the dark of night, standing around a bubbling caldron.
Yet Paul teaches that worship of anything or anyone other than the true and living God is to participate in the demonic. This is especially clear in the last few verses we read. Paul equates the worship of false gods—idolatry—to the worship of demons. Specifically he warns, “I do not want you to have fellowship with demons (verse 20).”
I’m not sure we think of false religions as something that is by nature demonic. I’m not sure that we really think this through. Worshiping any other god—and the term is idolatry—worshiping any other god or any other thing, anything other than the one, true and living God is to participate, to fellowship, with demons. What a stunning concept! How arresting is this truth that causes us to think this morning!
I want to do that with you, to think through this passage that we may live as faithful followers of the one true God. Let’s walk through this passage together and note three main divisions in the text. First:
There’s a Command to take Seriously (14-15)
**Know that idolatry is Dangerous
Paul says in verse 14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” Flee. It is a verb in the imperative mood. Flee! Paul teaches in this passage that idolatry is not to be toyed with. It is dangerous. Flee from idolatry. Avoid worshiping idols, avoid worshiping false gods, at all costs. It’s a command to take seriously, flee idolatry. Know that idolatry is dangerous.
He adds in verse 15, “I speak as to wise (better, sensible or reasonable) men; judge for yourselves what I say.”
The idea is, “You are sensible people, reasonable people. Decide for yourselves whether what I am saying is true.” Think this through and see if I’m not right in warning you about the danger and the nature of idolatry, of worshiping anything or any one other than the true and living God.
He invites the congregation to think this through. This is a compliment to the Corinthian church. Paul is like, “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, you can think this thing through for yourselves. You don’t need to be spoon fed from a preacher. Take the Word preached and think about it. Reason it out. You are wise, sensible, reasonable people.”
We must prepare our minds for the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. We must think as we are listening. We’re not to sit back and ask for a person to entertain us, or make us emotional, or even to keep us awake. That’s not the preacher’s assignment. The preacher’s task is to preach the Gospel, to unfold the meaning of the Scriptures. The listener is to reason and to think it through. The listener must listen as if his life depended upon what he hears—because it does. Use your minds.
Our Lord teaches that we are to use our minds. Jesus says Christians are to, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind (Luke 10:27).” Paul says, “I speak to wise—to sensible and reasonable—people. Judge for yourselves what I say.”
There’s a command to take seriously, verse 14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” Avoid it at all costs. Know that idolatry is dangerous. Secondly:
II. There’s a Communion to take Seriously (16-18)
In verses 16 and following Paul teaches about Christian communion, what we call the Lord’s Supper, a reminder of the Christian’s union with Christ. Why does Paul mention this? Well, the opposite of being united with Christ is to be divided from Christ.
**Know that idolatry Divides
In the observing the Lord’s Supper, or communion, the Christian eats the bread and drinks from the cup. He partakes of the bread and cup as one who is united with Christ. He participates in the body and blood of Christ as a memorial of his having eaten and having drank from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, sharing in the benefits of his being “in Christ.” The Christian enjoys union with Christ. He or she is united with Christ.
Idolatry is to be united with another. Idolatry divides the Christian’s heart. Idolatry suggests a participation with something other than or someone other than the true and living God. Verse 16:
16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
When a Christian eats the bread and drinks from the cup he is participating in Christ, sharing in Christ, in the sense that he aligns himself with Jesus and recalls the benefits of union with Christ, the benefits of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Verse 17:
17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
The eating of the one bread as Christians in Paul’s day did, eating from a singular loaf, one loaf, reminded the Christian of his unity with his brothers and sisters and of his union with Christ.
The greater point here is not so much a comprehensive teaching on observing the Lord’s Supper. That will come later in the next chapter. What Paul does here is to remind Christians that the Lord’s Supper identifies Christians as those who are aligned with Christ, and not aligned with some other god. We are connected to Christ. We enjoy communion with Him alone. We share in the benefits of His sacrifice as the true and living God who sacrificed Himself, substituted Himself for our sin.
It is the same for believers in the Old Testament. They, too, worshiped the one true God, looking forward to the cross. This is Paul’s point in verse 18: “Observe Israel after the flesh (or, the people of Israel): Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?”
That is, believers in the Old Testament likewise aligned themselves with the true and living God and separated themselves from false religion. They enjoyed the benefits of having their sins temporarily forgiven through a sacrificial system that looked forward to the perfect sacrifice of God’s Son. They too aligned themselves with the true and living God. They were united with Christ, connected with Him.
Again, the opposite of being united with Christ is to be divided from Christ. Know that idolatry divides. So there is this natural progression through the text. First, there is a command to take seriously, secondly there is a communion to take seriously, thirdly:
III. There’s a Compromise to take Seriously (19-22)
And the third sub point is:
**Know that idolatry is Demonic
Verse 19, “What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?”
This sounds familiar. Paul had said back in chapter 8 that, “an idol is nothing (1 Corinthians 8:4),” but he didn’t mean that one should not take idolatry seriously.
And the reason we should take idolatry seriously is because idols are by nature that which is demonic. Verse 20, “Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”
Here again is this teaching, that the worship of other gods, other religions, are by nature demonic. Paul says, “The things which the Gentiles (the non-Christians) sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God.” And Paul adds the warning at the end of verse 20, “And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”
Paul is teaching that behind every other religion is a demonic influence. Consider how politically incorrect it is to say this! Paul was not concerned with political correctness. He was writing to a Christian congregation, warning them about compromising their faith.
Yet what he writes is true. All religions other than Christianity are satanic in origin. Think about it: the devil does not want us following Christ, so he is happy with our worshiping anyone or anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The devil is pleased when we focus on anyone or anything other than the Gospel.
The devil is not a silly cartoon character dressed in red. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “If our gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age (Satan) has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
There really is a devil. Satan really does exist. You don’t believe in him? Our Lord Jesus did, so what do you make of that? Our Lord Jesus spoke much about Satan and warned us much about Satan. Our Lord Jesus combatted Satan in the wilderness, defeating him by quoting Scripture.
Take seriously the work of Satan. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 about the coming of “the lawless one,” one who is, “according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Things are either the works of God, the works of man, or the works of the devil. God does the supernatural. Not everything that looks supernatural is of God. Man tries to mimic God. And so a lot of things we witness that appear to be supernatural are merely the works of fake and charlatans. I’m thinking of these people on TV who claim to do things only God can do.
But then there is also the demonic element. If someone claims to receive a kind of supernatural feeling, power, or guidance from something or someone other than the one true God, then that supernatural feeling, power, or guidance is that which comes form demons. Pure and simple.
I’m not suggesting that persons who fail to trust Christ and are getting this power or feeling elsewhere understand that it is demonic, I’m simply explaining what the Bible teaches. Things are either the works of God, the works of man, or the works of the devil.
It may not be politically correct to refer to all other religions as demonic, but we must be concerned for truth. We can certainly respect one’s cultural heritage and religious upbringing, but we must know at the end of the day that all religions are inherently demonic in origin.
And the warning here is to Christians. Know that idolatry is demonic. The people of God learned this the first time as far back as Deuteronomy 32:16-17:
16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods they did not know,
Worshiping other gods is by nature demonic.
So going back to what he has just written about the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper illustrates union with Christ, the believer is united with Christ. Idolatry pictures disunion, the unbeliever is divided from Christ.
A Christian can be united together to only one or another. We are either united together with Christ or else we are united together with some other god. That’s why Paul says what he does in verse 21:
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
You can’t have it both ways. You are either united together with Christ or you are united together with some other god. Christian worship and pagan worship are inherently incompatible. Try to do both and you will raise the Lord’s righteous anger, you will incur the Lord’s wrath. As Paul says in verse 20:
22 “Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? (that is, Do we really wish to rouse the Lord’s jealousy?!) Are we stronger than He?” No, we are not.
It is this matter of compromise that I believe to be our greatest concern. I suspect very few of us struggle with idolatry in the sense of an exact, one-to-one correlation or substitution. In other words, most of us are not, “Okay, I am going to substitute my career for God. I’m going to worship this false god called my job instead of the true and living God.”
No, I rather suspect that most of us try to worship God and some other god. We combine our love for God with other gods—career, money, fame, success, and so forth.
Jesus warns in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve both God and money.” You can worship only one. Paul says here to try and have it both ways is to “provoke the Lord to jealousy,” to arouse His wrath.
In what ways may Christians participate in idolatry?
What is idolatry? In essence, idolatry is to find greater satisfaction in anything other than the true and living God. Trusting in anything other than the true and living God to meet the needs for which your soul yearns. Idolatry is to worship and serve someone or something instead of God.
Given our cultural context, what are our most cherished idols, our most worshiped idols? When we think about false gods that tempt us, here are some questions that may reveal false gods you worship:
What do you talk about most?
What do you think about most?
How do you mostly spend your time?
What excites you?
What secret sin do you engage in?
What is your definition of success?
In order to “flee idolatry” (v.14) what would you have to do? What would have to change?
•Stand for prayer.
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