1 COR. 10:14-33: “You Can’t
Dine At The Table Of The Lord & Demons”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked
at two more areas that affect how we effectively
we will run that race of our Christian lives:
1.1.1. Being presumptuous in
thinking that you won’t or can’t fall headlong in your race and be disqualified
1.1.2. How to view and to deal with
temptations that might come into your life
1.2.
In our study today we are going to look at Paul’s warning to the people
in Corinth that they cannot partake of the Lord’s table and also the table of
demons, and also of Paul’s reiteration of the principle of being careful not to
do anything that will offend anyone or cause anyone to stumble
1.2.1. Paul tells the Corinthians
that we Christians are actually partaking of Christ in all of the various
aspects of our worship of Him, however we are also partaking of the table of
demons in all of the aspect of involvement in idolatry
1.2.1.1.We will again look at what
constitutes a idol
1.2.2. We will look at the
principle that Paul again asserts in this chapter (as in chapter 6) of how that
we Christians must curtain our freedom in Christ at times if not doing so will
cause someone to be offended or to stumble in their faith
2.
VS 10:14 - “14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from
idolatry.” - Paul warns the Corinthians against
participating in idolatry
2.1.
Paul had already told the Corinthians earlier in this chapter of the
book that they were to flee from idols.
Paul repeats that exhortation here.
2.2.
In the context of verse 13 and fleeing from temptations, this verse
must be interpreted to mean that God had already shown them how they should
flee from idolatry, and now they must put that exhortation into practice and
flee from all of the idols which may currently (or in the future) be in their
lives.
2.3.
Paul again exhorts the Corinthians to avoid idolatry in this section of
scripture. Remember from our previous
studies that an idol is not just an image of a creature made from wood or
stone, but there can be idols of the heart.
Literally, anything that we put above the Lord or refuse to submit to
Him and be obedient to Him with, becomes an idol in our hearts.
3.
VS 10:15-22 - “15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what
I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing which we
bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a
sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are
one body; for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Look at the nation
3.1.
Paul writes to the Corinthians with just a bit of sarcasm in verse
15. He tells them he is speaking to them
as unto wise men, for indeed they were not really very wise.
3.1.1. We have seen since we began
the study of this book that the Corinthian church was very much a problem
church and that there were many things in the lives of the people that did not
bring God glory. The flesh dominated so
much of their lives as they were mostly self-centered and ego-centric. We saw this in their party spirit with some
saying they were of Paul, others of Apollos, others of Jesus, etc.
3.2.
Paul asks them to use their best judgment and discernment to decide if
what he is telling them is indeed the truth.
3.3.
Paul asks them some questions in order to sharpen their consciences to
the wrongs of idolatry.
3.3.1. He asks them whether or not
that they are actually sharing in Christ’s blood when they drink the cup in
participation of the Lord’s supper?
3.3.1.1.The answer is assumed,
‘Yes!’
3.3.1.2.When Christians drink the
cup they are communing with Christ, and His blood is cleansing them of all
their sins.
3.3.1.3.We in the Calvary Chapels
are not like some groups in that we do not believe in transubstantiation or
consubstantiation, that when we have communion that the body and blood
literally become Christ’s body or His blood, rather we believe that when we
observe “The Lord’s Supper”, “Communion”, that we are just to remember Christ and
His love and what He did for us on the cross.
It is not that the elements actually become Christ or confer grace
directly. None the less, we are
communing with Christ when we observe the Lord’s Supper.
3.3.2. Paul asks them whether or
not they are actually sharing in Christ’s body when they eat the bread in
participation in the Lord’s supper?
3.3.2.1.Again the answer is assumed,
‘Yes!’
3.3.2.2.When Christians eat the
bread they are communing with Christ, and His body broken for them is payment
for their sins.
3.4.
Paul speaks of the unity of the body of Christ when they are together
to remember Christ in His body broken for them and His blood shed for them, ‘17 Since there
is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one
bread’.
3.5.
Paul tells the Corinthians to consider the nation of
3.6.
Finally, in summing up his argument, Paul tells the Corinthians that in
the same way that a Christian shares in the actual body and blood of Christ
through observing the Lord’s supper, when a person participates in any form of
idolatry they are actually sharing in demons.
3.6.1. The reason why one is
sharing in demons is because behind all heathen worship there is a demon who is
leading the people to worship him.
3.6.2. The crux of the argument is
that one cannot be a partaker of Christ and commune with His body and blood,
and then later go and commune with a demon through idolatrous worship.
3.6.2.1.This fact is further proven
by what Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 about how that a person cannot have
in their life two masters, but just one, “24 "No one can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon’.”
3.6.2.2.You can’t be serving Jesus
and serving anything else in essence.
You can’t be headed for heaven and also participating in that which is
sinful. You will have one or the other, and
if you choose Jesus it must be Jesus alone, otherwise you really only serve the
Devil and demons.
3.7.
Many Christians think that they can pray, read their Bible, attend a
church, etc., but then also allow something in their life that God absolutely
condemns, and that there is no problem with this type of thinking. People sometimes get the notion that if they
pay God their respects, so to speak, or somehow add some religion to their
life, that God will overlook their life of sin, and that they will still be
headed for heaven. However, this is so
far from the truth. Our God is a jealous
God and He will not be content for us to give Him half-hearted service, service
that is defiled by our involvement in some other kind of worship or sinful
lifestyle that is not pleasing to Him.
3.7.1. In Exodus 20:4-5, as
Moses was receiving the ten commandments from the Lord, the Lord told him that
He is a jealous God and that He will not tolerate us worshipping other gods or
graven images, “4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any
likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water
under the earth.5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me.””
3.8.
We Christians need to realize that there are spiritual forces that are
behind the temptations in our lives. If
we allow an idol to reign in our lives, we are giving glory to Satan, and in
effect we are sharing in demons to the extent that we allow that idol into our
lives.
3.9.
With the Lord being a jealous God, Paul tells the Corinthians in effect
that the Lord will discipline His children if their hearts go astray.
3.9.1. He tells the Corinthians
that God is stronger than they are, and therefore they should realize that He
is going to win the battle over their affections.
3.9.2. If we allow any idol in our
life, God is going to remove it by trial and testing if we will not remove it
because His words says we should remove it.
3.9.3. Are you provoking the Lord to
jealousy because of the influence of demons which you are allowing into your
life? God is going to put you through
the fiery crucible of testing in order to purge the evil from your heart if you
are not willing to remove that idol from your life!
3.9.4. Paul writes in 1 Cor.
11:31-32 about how we can avert the discipline by the Lord in our lives if
we will just listen to Him and obey what His word tells us, “31 But if
we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we
are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with
the world”.
3.10.
I do want to emphasize however that Christians cannot be possessed by
demons, however we can be oppressed by demons if we allow doors to remain open
to their influence in our lives. We must
never allow the Devil and his hordes to have any foothold into our lives!
4.
VS 10:23-24 - “23 All things are lawful, but not all
things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one
seek his own good, but that of his
neighbor.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that all things
are lawful for them as Christians but their doing some things may not be
profitable for people’s spiritual edification or for God’s kingdom
4.1.
Beginning in verse 23 through the end of this chapter, Paul basically
repeats what he already wrote in chapter six about how to determine God’s will
concerning areas that involve things that are not spoken of in a black or white
way in the scripture. He gives principles
here that we Christians are to observe when determining our conduct relating to
the gray areas of our life.
4.2.
With this repetition of what Paul wrote in chapter 6, we see the
importance of that overriding concern of not doing anything that will cause
someone to stumble in their spiritual walk.
It is such an important thing that we Christians beware not to cause
another person to stumble in their spiritual walk that Jesus said in Matt.
18:6 that it would be better for a person to put a millstone around his
neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea than to cause someone else to
stumble, “6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me
to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his
neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
4.3.
If we know that something is black and white from the scripture then
there is no question that we are commanded to follow scripture, and not to
follow scripture is to sin.
4.4.
In the first part of verse 23, Paul basically repeats what he has
already written in 1 Cor. 6:12, “12 All things are lawful for me, but not
all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be
mastered by anything.”
4.5.
Paul tells the Corinthians that now that they have received Christ into
their lives, that ‘all things are lawful’ for them since they are no longer
under the law of Moses, and they have been set free from the law, sin, hell,
death, the grave, and the Devil.
4.5.1. The Christian life does not
consist of law-keeping or rules. It is a
walk with God under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, and under the
constraining love of Christ.
4.5.2. We have been given
tremendous freedom in Christ, for Paul writes to us that all things are lawful
for us, however, we must be careful to regulate our life and curb our liberty
so that whatever we do will be done in order to edify God’s people.
1.1.
Here is my quote from my own notes in chapter 6, “As we are considering
our conduct as Christians, there are many choices that we have to make all
throughout our lives as Christians.
These decisions involving watching different movies, listening to
different music, who we should date or marry, should we drink or use drugs,
etc., etc. Concerning all of these
decisions which we must make, there are some questions we ought to ask
ourselves (and ask the Lord) before we decide to do them:
1.1.1. Will doing this bring glory
to God?
1.1.2. Will doing this be
profitable for His kingdom?
1.1.3. Can I be a good witness for
Christ and do this?
1.1.4. Does doing this thing build
me up spiritually, or does it tear me down?
1.1.5. Will doing this cause some
sin to potentially have mastery over me?
1.1.5.1.Paul tells the Corinthians
here (chapter 6) sin should no longer have mastery over them, therefore they
should not be mastered by any thing in their life.
1.1.6. Do I have an uneasy
conscience if I do this thing?
1.1.6.1.Rom. 14:23 talks about how
we should not do anything for which our conscience bothers us.
1.1.7. Will doing this cause a
brother or sister in Christ to stumble in their walk?
1.1.7.1.Rom. 14:15 talks about how
we should not do anything that will cause a brother or a sister to stumble.”
4.6.
Paul says that we need to be careful to do only those things that bring
about edification of others, in other words the things which build them up
spiritually, and don’t tear them down spiritually.
4.6.1. In the book of 1 Corinthians,
one of Paul’s themes that he brings out in a few places is that the church
exists in order to ‘edify’ God’s people.
God’s people need to be built up in their faith so that they can become
faithful leaders and servants, and thus the world can be won as the church wins
souls and disciples leaders.
4.7.
Paul reminds them again about not offending another’s conscience by
saying, “Let no one seek his own good, but
that of his neighbor”.
4.7.1. A Christian must always be
other’s-centered instead of self-centered, and therefore whatever that he does
must be done in love.
4.7.2. He should also always be
thinking of ways in which to bless his brothers and sisters, as well as the
people of this world. This is the way in
which Christ walked, and it is the way which His followers must walk.
5.
VS 10:25-27 - “25 Eat anything that is sold in the
meat market, without asking questions for conscience' sake; 26 for the
earth is the Lord's, and all it contains. 27 If one of the unbelievers invites
you, and you wish to go, eat anything that is set before you, without asking
questions for conscience' sake.” - Paul tells the Corinthians to eat anything
that they find in the market place or whatever is put before them by others
without asking whether or not it had previously been sacrificed to an idol
5.1.
Paul gives some practical advice in these two verses.
5.1.1. He tells them that since an
idol is really nothing of substance but rather just a hunk of metal wood, etc.,
and that everything that the Lord created is good, and no food is evil in and
of itself. Therefore, a Christian should
know that he is free to eat whatever is in the market place or whatever is put
before him without worrying that it might be possessed of demons or that it
might bring a demonic influence into his life.
5.1.2. However, so that their’s and
perhaps a brother’s or a sister’s conscience will not potentially be defiled if
you should eat meat that has been sacrificed to an idol, it is just best to not
ask whether or not the food was sacrificed to an idol before you eat it. They do not need to ask those kinds of
questions since the food in and of itself is not tainted.
5.2.
When you know something is tainted by evil, it is just better to stay
away from it. For some reason the last
year I have had a few different men send emails to me through our church
web-site saying that they wanted to give money to our fellowship. I still do not know if they are trying to
commit some kind of a scam, terrorism, or whatever, but in every case I told
them that we were not interested in their money because it was evident that God
would not be glorified by their giving us the money.
5.2.1. One man wanted to give our
church well over $10 million dollars saying that he had now wanted to be able
to do something right in his life after all of the evil deeds he had done, and
then he told us that he had stolen the money.
We couldn’t take stolen money, God would not be glorified in that. I told him to give the money back.
5.2.2. Another man said that he
wanted to give us money but then the reason why he wanted to give it and His
explanation of how God had told him to do this didn’t match up with what a
Christian should do and the God I know.
God wouldn’t have been glorified by our accepting that kind of gift
either.
5.2.3. However, if someone had just
sent a money order with no other explanation but that it was a gift for the
fellowship, then we would have accepted the gift as being from God.
5.2.3.1.This is the same sort of
thing that Paul said that the Corinthians should do concerning the eating of
meat, don’t ask any questions just eat it unless someone has told you that it
is tainted by having been offered to an idol.
6.
VS 10:28-30 - “28 But if anyone should say to you,
"This is meat sacrificed to idols," do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience' sake; 29 I mean not your own conscience, but
the other man's; for why is my
freedom judged by another's conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why
am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?” - Paul tells
the Corinthians that if anyone tells them that the meat before them has been
sacrificed to an idol, then don’t eat it in that case
6.1.
Having told the Corinthians not to ask questions about whether or not
food that they might eat had been sacrificed to idols, he now tells them that
if someone should mention that some meat was sacrificed to an idol, that they
should not eat the meat.
6.1.1. The reason they should not
eat the food in this case is not that the food itself is unholy, but rather
because a weaker brother or sister (perhaps who had just gotten out of idol
worship) could either be offended by you (affecting your brotherly relationship
with them) or be caused to stumble if they see you eating the food that had
been gotten through an idol worship ceremony.
7.
VS 10:31 - “31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or
whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
- Paul tells the Corinthians that they
are to give God glory in all that they do
7.1.
The overriding reason for the Corinthians to regulate their liberties
for the sake of weaker brothers and sisters is because in all that a Christian
does, he should do it intending that by doing so that he is bringing ‘glory to
God’.
7.2.
We Christians need to evaluate everything that is in our life as to
whether or not it brings glory to God.
If it doesn’t bring glory to God, then we ought to remove it from our
life. How can we who have received of
the unbelievably wonderful grace and mercy of God not desire to bring glory to
God?
7.3.
The author of 1 Chronicles recorded in 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 one
of David’s prayers which is to me a great example of how we ought to pray and
also to give God glory in everything we do in this life, “10 So David
blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said,
"Blessed art Thou, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 "Thine,
O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the
majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the
dominion, O LORD, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. 12 "Both
riches and honor come from Thee, and
Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy
hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. 13 "Now therefore, our God, we
thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name.”
7.4.
Likewise, Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:11 saying that in all things
that we do we should be sure that God be glorified through Jesus Christ, “11 Whoever
speaks, let him speak, as it were,
the utterances of God; whoever serves, let
him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God
may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen”.
7.4.1. Glory belongs only to the
Lord, who alone is worthy to be glorified.
7.4.2. Peter says in this verse
that we Christians ought to speak as though we are uttering the very utterances
of God, and in our serving we ought to serve with God’s strength, and then, we
will glorify God through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion,
not only now but forever and ever.
7.5.
If believe that many times Christian’s prayers are hindered because in
their praying their motive for their prayer being answered is not so that God
can be glorified. I think that many
times service that Christians do for the Lord is also not done with the motive
of bringing glory to God, and thus God doesn’t honor and bless it. We can have selfish and self-serving motives
for the things we pray for and do for the Lord.
However, if we will determine that in everything that we do that we want
to bring God glory, He will bless us abundantly because being God He desires as
well as deserves the glory for every good thing that is done in all of the
universe.
8.
VS 10:32-33 - “32 Give no offense either to Jews or to
Greeks or to the church of God; 33 just as I also please all men in all things,
not seeking my own profit, but the profit
of the many, that they may be saved.”
- Paul writes here that the Corinthians
were to give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church
8.1.
Paul reiterates his previous command to not do anything to offend or
cause to stumble any brother or sister in Christ, only he adds to that that
they are not to cause offense also to Jews, Greeks (perhaps meaning Gentiles in
general), or to the church.
8.1.1. By the way, that list
includes all people.
8.1.2. Though we may legitimately
have the freedom to do some things, we shouldn’t do them if a person with us
believes that to do them is to sin, for if we do that thing then we will offend
their conscience and possibly cause them to stumble.
8.2.
Paul desired with all of his heart that all men, women, and children
come to salvation. Paul says of himself
that in everything that he did he sought to please all men in all things (as
much as he could without compromising his faith), and that in doing so he
sought ‘not his own profit, but the profit
of the many, that they may be saved’.
8.3.
Do we Christians care whether or not the lost will come to Christ or go
to hell?
8.3.1. We should be like Christ and
follow the example of Paul, and do whatever we can in order that people all
around us may come to Christ.
8.3.2. We must regulate our
liberties, and conduct ourselves in every area so that no one will be caused to
stumble or be offended.
8.4.
We Christians must always be thinking about whether or not the things
that we do and allow into our lives are profitable in the lives of those around
us.
8.4.1. Though we may legitimately
have the freedom in Christ to do some things, we must never do anything that
will cause our brother or sister to stumble.
In fact, even more so we should also in a positive sense always be
considering how that we may bless and edify our brothers and sisters in Christ,
and how that we might be able to reach those who don’t know Christ with the
gospel.
8.4.2. This is our calling...